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UK - Five event professionals encapsulated the trials and tribulation of the UK’s events sector on the Survival Tour, 3-18 October. Their 1,700km ride traversed over a hundred venues closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, where the riders met the people who would have normally produced all kinds of events (insights into their journey can be seen here).
It was a bitter-sweet experience for the riders, both physically and psychologically, as Proper Productions’ Mark Ward explains: “Without any events to work on, we clipped our barely trained legs into our pedals, to highlight the dire plight of our industry. It was inspiring to bring together the venues and people along ou

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USA - ETC has announced the addition of the Fresnel to the fos/4 studio family. With the addition of LEDs, however, many Fresnels became more about the technology and less about light. ETC’s fos/4 Fresnel ‘takes the most desired features of an incandescent Fresnel and adds in the nuanced colour mixing, smooth fades, and LED technology of ETC’s other professional grade fixtures. With fos/4, you get a true Fresnel with an LED engine, not the other way around’.
The fos/4 Fresnel includes ‘all the features you’d expect from a standard Fresnel’. Adjust the 15°-50° zoom from either the front or the rear of the fixture. Use the accessory slot to add any number of beam-control accessories such as barn doors and soft boxes. The adjustable yoke enables easy balancing of the fixture after focus, and the homogenized optic gives you an impressively seamless beam of light

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South Africa - Making a decision to swim rather than sink, Sound HQ Solutions along with production manager Sharif Baker, who is also the chairman of TPSA and spokesperson for #LightSAred, have survived the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa with fewer bumps and bruises than many other companies during this tough time.
They recently launched their new Festival Studio in Muldersdrift, Johannesburg, a hybrid and virtual facility which includes outdoor stages, and are confident that they are able to pull off a variety of festivals and events for their niche gospel, jazz and music markets.
Alvin Bruinders, the owner of technical supply company Sound HQ Solutions, started working with Sharif Baker some 20 years ago on MY Joyous Celebration, a gospel powerhouse formed in 1996 to celebrate the political change in South Africa and the peaceful transition into democracy.
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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

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UK - Orbital Sound reports “an outstanding summer season” for its Car-Link wireless in-car speaker series, designed specifically to address the drive-in sector’s demand for a high quality, reliable solution. Car-Link was created to address the challenges of delivering consistently excellent in-car audio, overcoming the myriad issues associated with reproducing modern movie soundtracks and live music performances without compromise in the growing drive-in market, says Orbital.
MD Chris Headlam expands: “Car radios fitted to vehicles are all different. Some have big bass speakers, and others just tiny tweeters. None really sound very good, and none are designed for accurate sound reproduction. As a result, it is totally impossible to relay clear and fair sound equally to everybody via the vehicle manufacturers’ car installation. Add to this a raft of other issues - i

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USA - Production and rental houses across the entertainment technology industry have had to think creatively in order to continue to serve the industry and stay in business. One of the more successful has been Synergetic of Bensalem, Pennsylvania, which has converted a portion of their warehouse to a professional TV studio for live streaming complete with a full Elation Professional lighting system.
President and CEO at Synergetic, Jason Weldon, says that opening the studio has allowed them to pivot from their usual business of supplying entertainment technology gear for live events in the Mid-Atlantic region. “We’ve been able to offer customers the ability to hold a virtual event in a professional setting,” he says while acknowledging that the redirection to a live streaming and professional recording space has also been an economic lifesaver. “While we’re not 10

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UK - Epic, the company behind Unreal Engine, has finalised the refurbishing of its London-based Innovation Lab, including a complete virtual production LED stage featuring ROE Visual LED products.
Epic Games, known for its video games, develops the Unreal Engine realtime 3D creation tool. This game engine not only powers their internally developed video games such as Fortnite and Infinity Blade series but is used to develop the virtual backgrounds and sets that made virtual production in film possible.
Since the technique of LED virtual production was explored and the first pioneering steps were taken, both Unreal engine and ROE Visual have been involved.
“ROE had already proven itself at the very cutting-edge and high end of LED virtual production with its pioneering use on Star Wars Mandalorian. It was important for us at Epic to give c

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South Korea - Located in the city of Paju, South Korea, CGV Paju Yadang is the latest movie theatre in South Korea opened by CJ CGV - the country’s largest multiplex cinema chain and the fifth largest in the world. Opened at the end of July 2020, it has five auditoriums, all with recliner chairs and Barco laser projectors.
The main auditorium features an Alcons pro-ribbon system, specified and supplied by specialist cinema company Yuyukorea Co, based in Seoul. It was installed by the company’s head engineer, Mr Kang.
“We helped the customer with A/B demonstrations of different systems,” he says. “They were very satisfied with the Alcons Audio demo, saying ‘We love the HF from the pro-ribbon tweeter and could definitely hear a cleaner sound than from other systems’. They made an instant decision after the demo to choose the Alcons system.”
The syst

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Mexico - At the start of 2020, Ana Casillas released Tú a tu vida y yo a la mía which roughly translates to ‘You To Your Life, Me To Mine’. It is an apt title for the Baja California born singer at this point in her career, as she sets out the path to interpret regional and traditional Mexican music in a bold new way.
Drawing on her Michoacan and Jaliscience roots, she has worked with renowned composers and executive producer Juan Páez, Casillas to create a sound that builds on traditional music that celebrates the majesty and beauty of Mexican culture.
Casillas’ new sound was on full display this summer when she recorded a video at the Morelos Theatre in Toluca. Reflecting her music with intensely dynamic and colourful looks was a lightshow that featured the Maverick MK3 Wash, Maverick MK 1 Hybrid, Maverick MK3 Profile, Maverick MK3 Spot and Rogue R3 S

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Japan - Established in 1995, All Creation is a professional construction team that provides stage setup, LED assembly, lighting installation, TV, movie set assembly, and other event services.
The collaboration between All Creation and Prolyte dates back to 15 years ago. At that time, bolts were the mainstream for connecting truss flange surfaces, and work would not progress without an impact driver. “However, Prolyte truss is easy to be connected by a hammer, and I was surprised and interested in the overwhelmingly fast assembly speed without worrying about forgetting to tighten the bolts,” says Koichi Okajima, CEO of All Creation.
Back in the day, there was a concern about the lack of experienced engineers in Japan. Safety issues and personnel training were the most discussed topics in All Creation. More importantly, they are the present and future subjects to be

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​China - A watch tower that overlooks China’s second-longest river - the Yellow River - is lit by Christie laser projectors for a light show aimed at promoting Yellow River culture and boosting the local cultural tourism industry.
Located in Lanzhou, capital of Gansu province, the 90m high Yellow River Tower is the centrepiece of a night-time extravaganza titled The Great Lanzhou, which made its official debut on 29 September ahead of China’s 71st National Day celebrations. The outdoor show features 3D projection mapping, stage lighting, lasers, atmospheric effects and live performances to tell the story of the Yellow River basin - birthplace of ancient Chinese civilisation, and the most prosperous region in early Chinese history.
Projection is accomplished by Christie’s newly-appointed distributor Zhongqing Yingye Group using 32 Christie 1DLP and 3DLP l

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Australia - The 2020 Parrtjima Festival of Light at Alice Springs in Australia’s Northern Territory provided a rare reminder of the community, camaraderie, magic and imagination evoked by lighting art.
Moved from its original April slot to September, the 10-day event organised by the Northern Territories Major Event Company (NTMEC), and produced and curated by AGB, went ahead due to the state’s successful Covid-19 management strategy.
Featuring a carefully picked collection of amazing and fun light artworks together with a spectacular nightly lightshow designed by Richard Neville from Mandylights delivered to a locally produced soundtrack, 80 x Robe MegaPointes were used to throw lighting and effects onto a section of the West MacDonnell mountain range.
The lighting equipment was supplied by Melbourne-based MPH Australia, who have been involved as event sup

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UK - Over the last five months, the #WeMakeEvents campaign has been raising awareness around the current plight facing the live entertainment sector and its urgent need for financial support if it is to survive the COVID-19 crisis.
With the introduction of tier systems and the continued local lockdowns, hosting live events has become even more difficult than before. The campaign is therefore continuing to make its voice heard with the next stage of its protest action - Survival in the Square.
Gary White, lead producer of #WeMakeEvents, comments: “The latest government support packages, although welcome, are not reaching those who need them the most and will only benefit a small group. Larger, more meaningful action needs to be taken and, until it does, we will still be here campaigning.”
From 26 October (Monday), Survival in the Square will comprise a series

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Germany - The Mercedes-Benz Classic Centre in Fellbach is the official Mercedes-Benz showcase for classic cars and is a must-visit for any car enthusiast. It offers original parts, repairs, restoration and information for historical Mercedes-Benz vehicles that have been out of production for at least 15 years.
Mad Music Event Technology of Stuttgart was called on to upgrade a portion of the vehicle lighting at the Classic Centre and chose a large number of full-colour Elation Professional KL Panel LED softlights for the job.
The KL Panel creates soft white or full-colour washes of up to 24,000 lumens at a 100° half-beam angle. According to Mad Music CEO Mathias Bremgärtner, the decision to go with the KL Panel was because of the "very good options for colour temperature adjustment, the very good CRI value, the excellent homogeneous coverage and the exact colour rende

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USA - Spanning 14 floors and featuring dining options, a gym, more than 3,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, and a rooftop pool with a terrace bar, cabanas, and a fire pit, the Canopy by Hilton Downtown is a boutique lifestyle hotel in Tempe, AZ, USA.
To provide sound reproduction throughout the venue, management invested in the installation of a healthy assortment of loudspeaker systems drawn from catalogue of Valencia, Spain-based DAS Audio.
Skinny’ Greg Gilman, who is involved in a wide range of music and sound endeavours, including both work as a DJ and as an AV installation professional, was contracted to manage the Canopy’s sound system installation. Working in conjunction with Oakland Park, FL-based TM Sound, an AV design/build firm, the combined team deployed an assortment of DAS loudspeakers that drew from the company’s Quantum, Ovi, and WR Series catalogues.

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USA - The oldest, continuously operating motor race track in the USA has seen its share of historic moments since it opened in 1904. But on 18 September, the Fairgrounds Speedway gave lockdown-weary Nashvillians a chance to ride off into the future when it served as the site of Tempo Presented By Eamotion, a 60-minute drive-through experience that engaged the senses with an immersive array of sights and sounds.
Entering the track’s winding two-mile course, visitors were greeted by a dazzling mosaic of colourful images created by a sea of sparkling lights, along with over 2,000 video panels and 400ft wide projection mapped surfaces. Tying this panorama together was a matrix of laser light that seemed to envelop the entire course in its glow.
Dustin L Derry programmed and ran the laser show on his ChamSys MagicQ MQ500 Stadium console. “This was an exciting pro

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USA - Combo’s modern approach to hostelling has materialised into an ambitious architectural and urban redevelopment project that has already opened its doors in Venice, Milan and Turin and is scheduled to extend to other Italian cities very soon. Here, travellers are greeted by airy common spaces, a trendy bar and eatery, and relaxed workspaces with several dedicated event, exposition and meeting spaces. There is also music throughout most of the common areas, thanks to a Genelec sound system.
Far more than the hostels of old, Combo bills itself as a cultural hub for citizens of the world, combining hospitality with music. The hostels in Turin and Milan boast their own radio booths, which broadcast full time in the hostels and online, and all sites offer rooms equipped with AV technology to host talks, screenings, live sets, listening sessions, art workshops and more. The

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Austria - With this year’s Summer Night Concert, an event that has been taking place since 2004, the Vienna Philharmonic wanted to send a signal of hope in the year of coronavirus. As a result, the concert went ahead - albeit with a small number of spectators on site - as a live broadcast event on the TV channels ORF2 and 3SAT.
The concert production itself, under the direction of Valery Gergiev, and featuring soloist Jonas Kaufmann, had to be optimised for television broadcasting. With highly experienced DoP Jerry Appelt at the helm, the production was able to fall back on a proven concept.
“The Summer Night Concert had already been broadcast on TV in previous years, so we didn't have to reinvent the wheel in terms of TV-compatible lighting,” stated Appelt.
For the important white light, he opted once again for the GLP impression S350 and S35

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Romania Two luxury hotels from an eventual complex of three have just been opened by Romanian-based Phoenicia Hotels Group in the popular coastal resort of Olimp / Mangalia.
Operating under the Phoenicia Blue View brand, the first two - Belvedere and Panoramic - which will flank the Amfiteatru Hotel when it opens next year, have been equipped with Martin Audio’s Adorn loudspeaker series.
These were supplied by Martin Audio’s long-term partner, Paradigma Teknik, who were awarded the contract.
Traditionally a popular tourist destination, the hotels had been closed for more than 20 years and became derelict until the Phoenicia Group purchased and rebuilt the original structures, investing €35m (a figure that is expected to rise to €50m by the end of 2021).
Paradigma have called on the powerful Adorn A55T several times on projects since its launch early

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USA - Now into its third year, Nights of the Jack is a Halloween experience which sees the historic King Gillette Ranch in the Santa Monica mountains of Los Angeles filled with thousands of hand-carved jack-o’-lanterns. Arranged into themed displays, the pumpkins are further enhanced by colourful background lighting from ADJ IP65-rated LED wash fixtures as well as smoke and bubble effects from ADJ atmospheric generators.
Named after King C. Gillette, founder of the Gillette razor brand, who owned and developed the land in the 1920s, the King Gillette Ranch is a 588-acre site in the Calabasas region of Los Angeles that is now owned and operated by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority.
Having successfully launched in 2018 and experienced considerable growth last year, Nights of the Jack 2020 was put in jeopardy – as with so many events – by Covid-19.

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Europe - Shure has unveiled DuraPlex, the company’s new subminiature (5 mm) omnidirectional lavalier and headset microphone. Designed to stand up to the toughest conditions, DuraPlex boasts Shure’s first IP57 certification rating, keeping dirt, dust, water, and perspiration from upstaging the audio.
The minimalistic form factor features the same cable durability of TwinPlex – Shure’s premium line of lavalier and headset microphones. DuraPlex was developed ‘with input from esteemed audio professionals and supports the diverse needs of film and television, theatre, broadcast, and corporate presentations’.
DuraPlex consists of the DL4 Omnidirectional Waterproof Lavalier Microphone and the DH5 Omnidirectional Waterproof Headset Microphone.
“In developing DuraPlex, we wanted to provide a simple, consistent, reliable solution, ready to tackle any environm

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USA - Foo Fighters recently played the #SOSFest livestream with Brit Row providing the virtual remote mixing solution. Performing at West Hollywood’s Troubadour, the gig was streamed to fans on 18 October as part of a collective action weekend in support of independent US-based music venues.
A total of 35 artists - including Miley Cyrus, The Roots, Major Lazer and Leon Bridges - played in multiple venues in cities across the US and joined the Foo Fighters in raising awareness and funds to keep North America’s cherished independent concert venues from closing indefinitely.
Named #SOSFest, the three-day virtual music festival was created to support the Save Our Stages initiative and America’s National Independent Venues Association’s (NIVA) Emergency Relief Fund. NIVA’s YouTube hosted the festival, with individual sets also aired on artist channels.
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