UK - Television lighting rental company Version 2 supported lighting director James Tinsley, gaffer Adam Mitchell and the production crew behind the latest run of I’m a Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here!.
The impact of COVID-19 resulted in a well-publicised relocation of the show, from the Australian jungle of New South Wales to the atmospheric setting of Gwrych Castle in Abergele, North Wales. The combination of a new venue plus the global pandemic presented a multitude of challenges, which the production team overcame to make this 20th season of the show one of the most successful runs yet.
As one of the first UK TV shows to make a full return to regular production, including nightly live broadcasts direct from the location, the IAC team implemented stringent

Europe - A selection of the latest ETC and High End Systems lighting equipment is now available through ETC rental partners with a newly launched programme, ETC Rent.
Jeremy Roberts, regional sales manager for the UK and Sub-Saharan Africa comments: “To help the creative industries get back on their feet, we have introduced ETC Rent in the UK - a programme that will give local venues, hire companies, creative designers and more, access to the very latest ETC and High End Systems lighting equipment via our rental partners.”
ETC Rent includes the new fos/4 Panel lights - designed specifically for the studio and film industry. They deliver intense light output and the highest color quality with the addition of Deep Red LEDs. ETC’s fos/4 Panels come in a Lustr X8 array and Daylight HDR array with different sizes also accessible via ETC Rental Partners.
A range

UK - Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Martin Audio is intent on turning 2021 into a year-long celebration of its 50th anniversary.
The company - founded by Australian Dave Martin in London’s Covent Garden back in 1971 - has forged a well-respected reputation despite the twists and turns of the last five decades.
The Martin Audio story follows an engineering development path dating back to the very foundations of the touring industry.
Dom Harter, managing director, comments: “While we are forever mindful that COVID restrictions are still firmly in place, this is a landmark that should be celebrated in style.”
To commemorate the occasion, Martin Audio has produced a book detailing its illustrious history and filled with eye-catching photography. This is available now online and in print from February onwards. A celebratory video is also available
featured content

Indochine X PixMob Fan Immersion

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's - 40 thousand LED pixels on a ceiling!!! Indochine's whirlwind tour transports fans to another level of the live experience - immersing them from floor to ceiling with PixMob's X4 wristbands, and an LED ceiling made entirely of its NOVA Minis! With the vision of Indochine's creative team, PixMob used its LED fan-technology to turn attendees and venues into an ocean of effects, and a starry sky of LED magic. Très très cool!

Read more about the Indochine tour in the latest issue of LSi

UK - Stuart Gibbons, managing director at Le Mark Group Ltd, was awarded with an OBE for services to International Trade in the Queens New Year’s Honours List 2021.
Since Le Mark’s founding in 1982, Gibbons has always had a passion for exporting and expanding the company into international markets. The company has a reputation within the arts and entertainment industry for product excellence and award-winning British design and innovation. Now, in the additional role of a Department for International Trade Export Champion, Gibbons continues to encourage and advise British regional companies to embark on the path of exporting.
Gibbons’ voluntary career has encompassed the position of vice-chairman of the Global Trade Network; founding chairman of the Huntingdonshire Manufacturing Association and the GCGP Business Advisory Panel; and he is currently chairman of the

UK - Anthony Morgan has been appointed as technical director of Baldwin Boxall, with Dave Boxall still very much involved in the business and with his new title of founding director.
Morgan has been with the company for over six years and leads a strong R&D team, alongside Boxall. “I thoroughly enjoy coming to work every single day,” says Morgan. “It is the people at Baldwin Boxall that make it so great, we truly have a fantastic, friendly and professional team.”
As an active member of many board committees in the industry, Morgan is well-versed in the multitude of aspects of life safety and is well-placed to continue Dave Boxall’s hard work, the company says.
Sales and marketing director, Nick Baldwin, comments: “We are very pleased to welcome Anthony to the board of directors and we know he is the perfect fit for this role”.

USA - Loudspeaker manufacturer KV2 Audio has announced the appointment of Paul Freudenberg to the position of business development director, US, effective immediately. Freudenberg’s career spans over 25 years with a number of leading pro audio manufacturers including L-Acoustics, AKG, BSS Audio and Aphex Systems.
Freudenberg will be immediately charged with the task of setting up direct distribution offices in Los Angeles, CA. The aim is to further enhance user and reseller relations as well as complement the existing market development activities being conducted by Plusmusic US, which continues to function on behalf of KV2 Audio as an official Value-added Reseller in the US market and independent sales representative (North-east region).
“Our new distribution facility on the west coast complements the existing activities of the eastern US and Canada regions,” sa

Europe - Coda Audio has announced the immediate availability of the latest public beta version of its proprietary prediction software - System Optimiser. This is a major update from the current version, providing integration with other software; Trimble SketchUp & Flux: IRCAM Spat Revolution Immersive Engine.
System Optimiser enables the user to accurately simulate several Coda Audio loudspeakers in any 3D scene with ‘unmatched precision and speed’. Design is possible for all sizes of audio system, from the smallest gathering up to the largest of stadium production, with incredible ease. In creating proposals for clients, SPL pressure mapping is presented in detail, with a strong sense of reality. In busy environments, workflow is tantamount to accuracy, and with this in mind, bespoke tools are provided to fully enable the system designer, says Coda.
Various to

Spain - Amate Audio’s new commercial audio loudspeaker, G7, is rolling off the production line and shipping to customers.
G7 is a ‘ground-up, fully in-house, development, two-way system within an EN54-24 certifiable, hexagonal-form, reinforced ABS plastic enclosure’. Continuous programme power handling and output capabilities are rated at 120 W and 112 dB SPL, and a full-frequency response means that the G7 can be deployed without the need for sub bass reinforcement.
Over several years, Amate Audio has secured a worldwide niche demand in music and hospitality install applications, where high performance and operational efficiencies of its premium, self-powered, self-processing loudspeaker systems have found favour. In pitching for mainstream commercial audio success, the company has eschewed prevailing market trends, in offering a distinctively premium product wi

USA - The Wonder Years’ November livestream was a homecoming of sorts, not only for the Top 20 alt rockers, but for Victor Zeiser who lit the 90-minute show. “This band is one of our oldest clients, so working with them again was a real thrill,” said Zeiser, the owner of Squeek Lights. “Earlier during the pandemic, the guys did a more-low key livestream at a recording studio, but they decided they wanted to cut loose and do a full production show, so they came here to the Ruby Stage in our new facility.”
Drawing on the versatile rig at the new Ruby Stage (it opened this summer), Zeiser and the Squeek Lights team delivered the dynamic show the band was seeking. Wrapping itself around The Wonder Years’ distinctive sound, the lightshow reflected the mood and spirit of the music with its colourful crossing beam patterns, intense side lighting, and evocative silhouett

USA - The Holiday Road drive-thru experience in Calabasas, CA features larger-than-life festive displays and millions of Christmas lights arranged throughout a two-mile track, which families can enjoy from the comfort and safety of their own car. ADJ fixtures are used extensively for the theatrical and architectural lighting of the various scenes that make up the experience, with over 300 ADJ 12P HEX IP and 7P HEX IP units spread throughout the attraction.
Holiday Road has been put together by the same creative team - Ben Biscotti, Bobby Rossi and Tony Schubert - that hosts the annual Nights of the Jack Halloween attraction. Originally launched as a walkthrough experience in 2018 and 2019, this year Nights of the Jack pivoted to a drive-thru model so that it could go ahead despite COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings in California.
Following

UK - The Parish church of St Giles’ in Wrexham, North Wales, a grade one listed building, is considered one of the finest examples of a medieval parish church in Wales. Built mainly between the end of the 15th and early part of the 16th Century the church annually welcomes around 33,000 visitors through its doors.
Unfortunately, the performance of the sound system no longer met the church’s needs and in 2017 the Parochial church council engaged Richard King Systems to provide a scheme for improving the audio facilities.
With over 30 years’ experience of sound system design in places of worship RKS turned to the Harman Professional product portfolio, distributed in the UK by Sound Technology. Harman’s JBL range of passive CBT column loudspeakers were selected for sound performance and discrete appearance. At the opposite end of the audio chain, AKG microphones w

USA - DePaul University in Chicago, the largest Catholic university in the United States, recently presented its 14th annual Christmas at DePaul holiday celebration as a virtual event.
Long before the semester began, the school’s administration knew it would need to make some big changes if the Christmas show was to safely go on during these unprecedented times. With some ingenuity and an assist from DPA Microphones, the school found a way to host the event virtually.
Leading into the school year, DePaul University’s director of operations & events, Melissa Grady, knew it was going to be hard to gauge what would be possible in a COVID world. “We had to make the call very early that we were not going to have an in-person event this year,” she says. “The show’s artistic director, Tony Peluso, and production manager, Jamie Davis, both alumni of DePa

USA - Canadian singer producer, The Weeknd, was one of a number of artists performing at unusual outdoor settings in Manhattan to mark the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards.
His designated location was the rooftop of the new Edge observation deck at Hudsons Yard, 387m high, and consequently the highest in the Western Hemisphere. This presented challenges for lighting designer LeRoy Bennett and his long-serving collaborator, Jason Baeri; but with the help of GLP’s X4 Bar 20s, The Weeknd gave a dynamic rendering of Blinding Lights, the song which earned him gongs for Best R&B Video & Video of the Year.
Bennett worked closely with La Mar Taylor, The Weeknd’s creative director, to come up with the concept. GLP’s award-winning battens not only lit the stage platform but also lined the perimeter of the building’s triangular balcony architecturally. Wearing h

USA - Lighting design bridges gaps, connecting sometimes widely different elements, and fusing them into a unified whole. Jason Patsel of 81 Productions demonstrated this recently at a socially distant outdoor benefit show at the Five Points Music Sanctuary in Roanoke, VA, where he melded different eras and expanded space with help from a collection of Chauvet Professional Rogue fixtures.
For the Five Points benefit, Patsel lit a concert by the popular Pink Floyd tribute band Darkside Experience, a quintet that captures the essence of the British band with their evocative and challenging sound. Patsel‘s design reflect the quintet’s music and onstage persona with its bold colours and unsettling light angles.
However, with this being the third decade of the 21st century, and the band including its own contemporary flair in their performance, Patsel also wanted to add

UK - Born from a disused china clay mine and a need for environmental sustainability education, Cornwall’s Eden Project was created in 2001. Eden has two large geometric bubble-like biomes, the Rainforest and the Mediterranean. The rainforest is the world’s largest indoor rainforest at 50m high and 16,000m2 and the Mediterranean houses some of the world’s rarest horticultural specimens.
For the second year, GLX Productions has designed and delivered the biome lighting for Christmas at Eden, using over 300 lighting fixtures, 3km of cable and 5km of fairy lights.
The dramatic landscapes of the biomes were lit in rich colours to create a compelling world of shadows and light. The crowning centrepiece of the Mediterranean Biome this year is a giant mirror ball casting a blizzard of snowflake-like points of silvery light across the giant structure.
The bi

USA - Lakewood Baptist Church in Gainesville, Georgia has purchased two KLANG:fabrik immersive IEM mixing systems for use in its main worship sanctuary. The units were acquired through Production/Co, the Chestnut Mountain, GA-based AV systems integrator, which also installed the system earlier this year, readying it for when the church resumed live capacity-limited and socially distanced services last June.
Together, the KLANG:fabrik units provide a total of 32 inputs and 12 individual immersive IEM mixes for the church’s band members, connected through Lakewood’s existing DiGiCo SD9 FOH console.
“They had taken their existing in-ear monitoring solution as far as it could go - they needed a more flexible and sophisticated IEM solution, and the KLANG:fabrik was it,” says Cason Cleveland, owner of Production/Co.
“The ability for the musicians on stage to

UK - When Ronald McDonald House Charities UK needed support to stage its Christmas fundraiser - A Starry Night - at Lambeth Palace last month, a fundraising group on Facebook recommended Absolute Events.
The charity supports families across the UK who need a warm and comfortable place to rest, eat and relax while their children are receiving hospital treatment. Like most charities, it has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, losing around 40% of its annual income - equating to around £6m.
Each year the charity stages an annual event at St Martin in the Fields in Trafalgar Square but due to the pandemic, this was unable to go ahead. Instead, the charity set about organising an outside concert with a limited audience but with a live stream so that the event, sponsored by Coca Cola Europe could be viewed around the world.
To support the complete process

Estonia - Pärnu Concert Hall in Estonia’s fourth-largest city is internationally renowned for its performance programme and has just taken delivery of new Robe moving light fixtures - eight T1 Profiles, six Tetra2 LED battens and four LEDWash 800s - which have been supplied through Tallinn-based Estonian distributor, E&T.
The striking modernist Concert Hall building constructed in 2002 and designed by architects K. Koov, K. Nõmm, H. Grossscmidth, offers two flexible halls - a main hall and a chamber hall - and a diverse concert schedule including - in normal times - a prestigious line up of visiting artists. It is also home to the Pärnu Music School and the Pärnu City Orchestra as well as hosting special events and civic celebrations in this seaside resort in southwestern Estonia.
Ave Martin is the head of lighting. She graduated from the Viljandi Culture Aca

Indonesia - UK manufacturer Prism Sound has appointed pro audio specialist ChandraCom as its exclusive distributor for Indonesia, with responsibility for its entire range of analogue to digital and digital to analogue converters and audio interfaces.
Based in Jakarta, ChandraCom was established in 1997 by Setiadi Chandra and now services the recording, broadcast and HiFi markets. Its customers include sound engineers, producers, DJs and musicians, along with record labels, TV stations and educational institutions. The company also represents other high-end pro audio brands including SSL, Sennheiser/Neumann, Barefoot Sound, AMS Neve, Steinberg, Native Instruments and Arturia.
With demo facilities and a seminar room in house, ChandraCom is well placed to introduce Prism Sound’s products to the local market.
“Some Indonesian sound engineers have heard about Pri

USA - The World Equestrian Centre in Ocala, Florida already occupies 380 acres and is ready to grow in the coming years on an additional 300 acres. When it opens in January 2021, visitors from around the country and from around the world will be able to stay in a five-star hotel or claim a site in an expansive RV park.
Over 2,000 stalls exist for the four-legged stars of the centre, and four indoor arenas and 17 outdoor arenas will showcase their talents.
International AV integration firm All Pro Integrated Systems, of Pensacola, Florida, designed, and is in the process of installing, the sound reinforcement systems for the centre, relying on Danley Sound Labs’ fidelity, coverage, and weather resistance for all mission-critical outdoor systems. By the time it opens, over 200 Danley loudspeakers and subwoofers will be in place, supported by dozens of multi-channel Dan

Russia - Adamson Systems Engineering is reinforcing its presence in Russia thanks to a partnership with ARIS. The Moscow-based distributor has served the Russian pro audio market since 1990, offering support to an array of rental partners and boasting a renowned in-house installation division that has provided solutions for the Bolshoi Theatre, Patriot Park, Moscow State University, the Zaryadye concert hall, and many other high-profile venues.
“We have 15 brands in our portfolio, but we realised we need Adamson because their technology and performance bring ARIS to the next level,” says Katerina Pogodina, ARIS’s general Manager. “Adamson is a technologically advanced manufacturer and they’ve always led with innovation. That’s important to us and to our clients and partners - we’re all looking to build toward the future and Adamson will help us get there.”

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