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Germany - The event industry may be idle due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but that didn’t stop Florian Vitez from Reposit Entertainment teaming up with Gerd Gruss from Crystal Sound, Sahar Gleich from Gleich Gesitzt, and Mitja Gleich from Messe- und Eventtechnik Gleich and putting together the Karlsruhe Trade Fair’s cultural stage.
The four quickly agreed and went straight to planning. Following a call to Michael Brombacher from Megaforce, the main stage was ready in no time, then Lars Wolf, from the company, Hell, brought his lighting design expertise to the project. This small but powerful group was quickly able to bring the idea of the cultural stage to the local cooperation partner, the Karlsruhe Exhibition Centre.
On 12 June, the cultural stage at the Karlsruhe Tra

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France - The beginning of the modern French nation is celebrated each year on 14 July, with events taking place all over the country - but this year’s National Holiday was quite different due to the pandemic.
Lawo mixing consoles provided the audio quality for the traditional Concert de Paris taking place on the Champs du Mars at the foot of the Eiffel Tower - Lawo’s sixth successive year serving both the live and broadcast sound requirements.
The FOH consoles used were a 48-fader mc²56 production console for the orchestra mix, and an mc²36 all-in-one console for the soloists. A 48-fader mc²56 took over the monitor tasks in a setup with a 16-fader mc² extender that was used in order to allow social distancing between the two operators. Working over the Optocore fibre-optic network deployed by Radio France for the live sound system to connect the event’s mixi

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USA - In February 2021, NASA’s Mars 2020 Rover is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet. The spacecraft will have the capability to capture imagery and sound as the Mars 2020 vehicle descends through the Martian atmosphere and lands on the surface of Mars. To capture sounds from the Red Planet for the first time ever, the Mars 2020 Rover will be outfitted with a selection of equipment from DPA Microphones.
DPA’s 4006 Omnidirectional Microphone will capture the audio while the MMA-A Digital Audio Interface will be used to record and send audio to a computer through its USB connection. Both mics will be paired with MMP-G Modular Active Cables, which act as ultra-transparent preamplifiers.
DPA won the contract from JPL based on its products’ ability to perform under demanding environments and the ability to deliver industry standard communication interfaces. DPA
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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 - Arts organisations can now apply for a portion of the government’s £1.57bn relief fund.
Up to £622m in grants will be made available during this first phase of the programme, including a £2.25m pot for grassroot music venues announced earlier this month.
Arts Council England will allocate £500m, with handouts of between £50,000 and £3m available for cultural organisations based in England, such as theatres, music and comedy venues and museums.
The rest of the money will be distributed by the British Film Institute (£30m) for independent cinemas, and the National Lotter

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UK - Powerful Thinking, the outdoor events sustainable energy working group, has restructured to provide specialist sustainable energy advice to live events, appointing a new chair and project lead Tim Benson, heading up a new-look board, within the Vision: 2025 sustainable events knowledge hub, July 2020.
Powerful Thinking is a not-for-profit working group, whose mission is to provide the outdoor events industry with inspiration, resources and technical support to enable a transition from carbon intensive temporary power provision to lower impact solutions.
Tim Benson states: “I am delighted to be working with this diverse team of industry experts. We are going to focus on driving significant reductions in carbon emissions at events, producing a comprehensive library of resources to support the differing needs of all levels of organisers and suppliers.”
The

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Poland - Prolights products gave light to Pocztówka z Polski Tour 20 (Postcards from Poland 20) which featured popular Polish rap artist, Taco Hemingway.
Gwidon Wydrzyński, lighting designer at Źle i Tanio realised an impactful set-up. “Because of the spread of Covid-19, we played just half of the tour. Nevertheless, shows took place in Warsaw, Kracow, Opole, Katowice and Rzeszów, and Taco Hemingway played in really big venues, like Warsaw's Torwar and Katowice's MCK, but not only- as well in big clubs like Studio, in Cracow.
“To light up the stage and the artist, I used Prolights Stark Bar1000 up in the back of the stage, SunBlast 3000FC as ambient lights around it, and Air 5Fan on the towers on the back. I decided to use these particular fixtures because of their unique and specific features: StarkBar 1000 provide a wide range of colours and po

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USA - Known for their blend of magic and comedy, Penn & Teller's Las Vegas show takes a different approach to live entertainment with provocative, and often amazing results.
When looking to upgrade the intercom system for season seven of Penn & Teller: Fool Us, Tony Kremer, founder of Kinetic Productions, turned to Pliant Technologies’ CrewCom wireless intercom system. The show required a solution that offers increased flexibility and usability, and seamlessly integrates with the venue’s existing hardwired intercom systems for broadcast and theatrical use. Since 2014, the comedy/magic duo has presented their Fool Us television show at the Las Vegas Rio Hotel and Casino.
“With our previous system, each base station offered only four 2-channel beltpacks, limiting our capabilities in terms of communication,” says Kremer. “When looking to up

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Europe - The coronavirus pandemic, and the associated restrictions on personal contact, have led to drive-in theatres becoming increasingly popular throughout the world. The projection screens used in drive-in theatres are typically either inflatable movie screens or LED screens suspended by a truss structure.
The latest webinar from Area Four Industries features Norbert Tripp, technical director of Area Four Industries who outlines the peculiarities of temporary outdoor LED screen structures.
Utilising descriptive graphics and on-site videos, the behaviour of LED screens is described including what effects they can have on the supporting structure and how these characteristics should be considered in actual practice.
The webinar includes clear explanations of what to consider when hanging LED walls, information relating to relevant standards of safety, and what

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Europe - Merging Technologies has supported the AES Student Recording Competition for many years, both at the European and US Conventions, by donating a prize of a Pyramix Native licence to the top student in the appropriate category.
The situation was rather different this year with the Vienna Convention being virtual; no Merging employee could present the prize. Nevertheless, the competition went ahead as normal and produced an excellent result for a student from the Detmold Hochschule für Musik. Kseniya Kawko was awarded the Gold Award in the Traditional Acoustic Category for the recording of the piece by Michio Miyagi Haru no Umi and Silver Award in the Immersive Category for the recording of the Mendelssohn String Quartet No.2 in A Minor.
Kseniya recorded and mixed both projects on Pyramix since Detmold and McGill University, where Kseniya did her previous

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USA - The coronavirus may have put a temporary halt to rock concerts, but it hasn’t done anything to dim the passion of aspiring stars who dream of one day taking to the arena stage. This relentless spirit was on full display at Let There Be Rock, a two-day livestream featuring a dozen bands from the Frederick Rock School in Baltimore.
Videoed at the improvised production studio in the Showtime Sound LLC warehouse, the event, which was streamed on Facebook and YouTube, featured a fittingly intense, hard-driving light show created by Aaron Kovelman, Showtime’s director of design & production.
“This was an important moment for students, so we wanted to give them something that made them feel special,” said Kovelman. “We wanted to create looks that were not only powerful, but were also different for each band to reflect their unique personalities.”
H

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USA - Blackberry Mountain sits among The Great Smoky Mountains with eight miles of protected ridgetop and 5,200 acres. Touted as an immersive experience that “seamlessly infuses wellness, outdoor adventure and hospitality into every experience”, the resort entrusted Bandit Lites to illuminate a three-day wedding that spanned multiple venues and events.
The Beall family opened Blackberry Mountain in 2018 after years of success with their property Blackberry Farms. They called Bandit Litesto bring their expertise, preparedness and creative adaptability to their guests. Wedding coordinator Jennifer Matteo worked with Bandit to configure a lighting design that would fit the spaces and budget.
“The buildings of Blackberry Mountain have an aesthetic that must be seen in person to be appreciated,” said Bandit Lites general manager Giff Swart. “They are designed to

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Korea - Void Acoustics has confirmed the appointment of a new distributor for Korea.
Joeun Media Co is based in Busan, Korea and first came to the attention of Void Acoustics in 2013 at Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt. The company has operated since 1985 as a wholesale AV distributor and has established a significant reputation as an exceptional audio installation company for major clubs and venues around Korea. However, this will be the first time that Joeun Media has been appointed directly as a distributor for the audio manufacturer.
Jung Wook, CEO for Joeun Media comments: “I was first made aware of Void Acoustics six or seven years ago and was fascinated by the unique design and innovative speaker arrangement of the Incubus and Nexus systems, which so clearly demonstrate the unique production values of Void Acoustics.”
Since that first introduction to Vo

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Belgium - Harlequin Floors has launched its new manufacturing plant and distribution centre in Liège.
The new 2,000 sq.m plant based in Liège will manufacture Harlequin Liberty sprung floor panels and will ensure an even faster service for our European clients, especially those in the events industry where a rapid turnaround on orders is a prerequisite and will be even more important to help rebuild the industry post-pandemic. The new site will improve efficiencies in manufacturing and supply, says the company.
It will also enable Harlequin to service the growing demand for its products in Europe.
Harlequin has also appointed Berlin-based Sander Resnik as commercial director of Harlequin Deutschland. The company will use Resnik’s background in sales expansion and e-commerce to widen its German-speaking customer base, which is dominated by the dancing elite b

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UK - Leading trade bodies and businesses are joining forces to issue a Red Alert and highlight the severe challenges faced by the live events industry and its entire supply chain due to the pandemic.
Planned for 11 August, the action will include social media and video drives as well as legal outdoor events, with other specific activities occurring on the day.
The initiative is part of the #WeMakeEvents campaign that aims to raise awareness of the sector’s struggles and to secure further support from the government.
“The live events industry supply chain that contributes to every single event in the UK is set to completely collapse,” comments Peter Heath, MD of PLASA. “Social distancing prohibits mass events, and even if this stopped now, long-term plan

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Emergency Support - Grassroots music venues in England will be the first cultural organisations to benefit from the government’s £1.57 billion package for the arts, with the most at-risk organisations receiving cash in the “next few weeks”. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has confirmed that the first tranche of money - totalling £2.25m - will fund emergency support grants for music venues at risk of imminent collapse.
It is the first news about how the billion-pound package will be spent, coming nearly three weeks after the initial announcement and following pressure from industry and unions to provide urgent clarification. A maximum of 150 venues that are at “severe risk of insolvency” are expected to benefit from the new funding, which will be distributed by Arts Council England and will provide grants of up to £80,000 to cover ongoing cos

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UK - The entertainment industry as a whole has been widely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and resource has been put into new, on-demand projects such as virtual events and live streams, temporary structures for health services, and educational systems for schools, colleges, and universities.
The team at Current RMS has recognised the shift in priorities and has launched new features that represent this new climate. Their new ‘postponed’ feature allows for users to temporarily pause jobs that will be reinstated in future, and retains all asset allocations, bookable resource allocations, and costs associated with each job.
They have also launched a ‘Testing and Inspection’ module, giving users the ability to record  testing data, whether that be for PAT, Test & Tag, OSHA, LOLER, or purely as a quality check. Current RMS’ Testing and Inspection module s

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USA - Chauvet Professional has added an extended warranty to its LED Maverick, Rogue and Ovation fixtures. The new warranty is for three years on all indoor rated fixtures within the ranges and five years on their LED engines.
All qualifying products purchased since 1 January 2020 are covered by the extended warranty. These include the silent Maverick Silens 2 Profile, the Maverick MK3 Profile, Rogue R3X Wash and all Ovation fixtures. Complete details, along with a list of covered fixtures covered by the warranty, can be found on the Chauvet Professional website.
“Given the challenges faced by our industry today, the time is right for us to extend our warranty,” comments Albert Chauvet, CEO of Chauvet. “Our extended warranty covers products bought since the start of 2020. Through this offer, we are hoping to lend an added level of assurance to our customers who a

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France - In tandem with the recent release of LA Network Manager 3, L-Acoustics has introduced the M1 suite, a comprehensive set of measurement and monitoring tools. From data acquisition through system tuning to live monitoring, M1 harnesses the power of the manufacturer’s Milan-certified P1 processor and amplified controller hardware to deliver a streamlined system calibration process as well as realtime performance monitoring.
The M1 suite pairs system measurement and control software to work natively as one seamless solution. Providing an original, reliable, and more efficient method for calibration, M1 allows users to expand their capabilities and optimise their time, says the company.
Ideal tuning of a venue requires both data capture and analysis. For most systems on the market, calibration processes typically involve estimating optimum EQ and alignment sett

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UK - A recent prosecution at Glasgow Sheriff Court has highlighted both the human and financial consequences when work at height is not properly planned, designed and managed, PASMA has said.
The association highlighted a recent court case, which looked at an incident from 2 September 2016 when an employee of JR Scaffold Services Ltd, who was erecting a tower scaffold to carry out roof repairs, fell 8m after the cantilever section on which he was standing collapsed. According to reports, the fall left him hospitalised for two weeks, with severe injuries including a collapsed lung, ruptured spleen and multiple rib and shoulder fractures. It was five months before he could return to work and he will be on daily antibiotics for the rest of his life.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company had correctly carried out a risk assessment and

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USA - An Audient ASP4816 is at the heart of a new studio setup at Kofa High School in Yuma District, Arizona, which happens to be the only school in the Yuma district to offer a Music & Audio Production programme. Career and technical education (CTE) Instructor, Adrian Matthews, describes it as “an incredible opportunity for our students”.
“We are currently in our second year of the program and it is going extremely well,” says Adrian, who since the new studio opened has been overwhelmed by the feedback from other staff members. “Reactions have ranged from complete amazement, to utter disbelief that there is a professional recording studio in a high school.”
When it came to specifying the gear, Adrian was looking for professional quality and an uncomplicated interface. “We only have 180 days in the school year, so I didn’t have the luxury of spendin

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UK - Unusual Rigging has conducted a series of inspection and maintenance checks at the Royal Albert Hall in preparation for an eventual post-COVID re-opening. With the venue shut for the first time since the Blitz, it was unable to carry out its usual April inspections and maintenance and as such the statutory examination periods for some hoists had expired.
Alexander Tripp, deputy head of technical at Royal Albert Hall explained: “While being closed has meant that there is less wear and tear on some of the equipment than there would usually be, this is not the case for the majority of it, There were also a number of examinations that needed to be carried out – thorough examination of rigging equipment being one of them. We wanted to get this rectified as soon as possible, but there were many challenges that needed addressing before work inside the Hall could be safely
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