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UK - The PLASA Awards for Innovation 2019 are now open for entries from PLASA Show exhibitors. Products from all sectors of the entertainment technology industry are invited to be entered for the awards by 16 August.
Judged independently by a panel of industry experts, the Awards for Innovation are respected throughout the industry for recognising innovative new product design. All successful nominees will feature in the Innovation Gallery during PLASA Show from 15-17 September at London Olympia, culminating in a ceremony at the show on 16 September where the winner will be announced.
Product entries must demonstrate a new style of thinking, improve technical practice and safety, introduce new technology, materials or techniques, or offer new commercial advantages. Furt

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UK - Lighting control manufacturer Zero 88 has announced changes to its dealer management.
Peter Coles joins the team as business development manager for system solutions. He will cover dealer relationships for the Zero 88 brand in the MENA region complementing his existing activities, which have included supporting the MENA architectural lighting control business, developing DMX based control solutions for a wide range of high-profile projects including theme parks and shopping centres.
Tyler Holpin has been appointed as UK & Ireland sales manager for the Zero 88 brand. His new responsibilities will extend to consolidating the recent UK sales channels and discount structure reorganisation, continuing the roll-out of Zero 88 console training nationwide, and developing the Zero 88 project sales focus as the company continues to explore and develop larger project opp

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UK - Prolight Concepts Group has announced the appointment of Jeff Davenport area sales manager. Davenport will represent the company in the north of the UK including Scotland. He was previously employed as a business development manager for Hawthorn and as a UK sales manager for EMD Music.
He comments: “It's a pleasure to now be representing the fastest growing supplier to the UKs event and install industry. With so many event ready products available next day from their huge stock holding, Prolight is a really exciting company to know for every size of business.”
(Jim Evans)
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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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South Africa - DWR Distribution will have a major presence at Mediatech Africa, the largest media and entertainment technology trade show in Africa, to be hosted from 17-19 July at the Ticketpro Dome in Johannesburg.
With a list of international guests attending, the exhibition will see some of the world’s leading equipment manufacturers, distributed by DWR, hosting stands at this year’s exhibition, including Robe, Claypaky, Absen, Prolyte, Visual Productions and Quest.
“We wanted to make DWR a central hub for people to unwind, meet up with our team and catch up with our international suppliers,” says Robert Izzett from DWR.
On the DWR stand, visitors will be able to have a drink or enjoy a cup of coffee. Then, a few steps away, they will have the opportunity to see the latest products being demonstrated. “Our suppliers have jumped on board with great

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South Africa - DWR Distribution and the SOS charity fund are asking for help to fund treatment for Landy Yeatman from Johannesburg-based event technical solutions provider Pristine Moods Productions.
Yeatman, 44, is a single mother with two daughters. She has been fighting stage 3B breast cancer and has now exceeded her medical aid limit, with a large number of outstanding bills to pay.
The SOS has contributed R25,000 towards her fundraising campaign, but Landy will need furthers assistance.
Read her story on BackaBuddy, where you can also make a donation.
(Jim Evans)

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USA - Nine-time Grammy-winning jazz songstress Norah Jones, first shot to stardom in 2002 with the release of her debut record Come Away With Me, which has sold more than 20m copies. Today, her record sales have surpassed the 50m mark and after recently completing a tour of Australia and New Zealand, she has embarked on a 24-date North American tour, where FOH engineer Jamie Landry is mixing from an SSL L500 console.
The North American tour kicked off on 18 June at Pittsburgh's Heinz Hall. Although the venues can be varied, Landry says for the most part, Jones and her band tend to play in theatres.
“It's a nice situation where she can do a theatre in most markets at this point; she doesn't over-reach, which means she can sell 2,000-plus tickets pretty much anywhere,” Landry explains, adding that all of the shows have been or will be sold-out. “She's real

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UK - ChamSys desks were included in the production designs on eight Glastonbury stages this year, in addition to others being brought to the festival by a host of LDs working for a wide range of artists like Simon Horn for Maribou State, Isabel Del Moral for Rosalia, and Gary Wilson for Lewis Capaldi.
At the Park Stage, a MagicQ MQ500 Stadium with a Stadium Playback Wing served as the main desk, where it was used by a variety of LDs, including Tom White for Michael Kiwanuka. South West Group Events, which provided stage production, supplied the MQ500 Stadium, as well as the MagicQ MQ80 backup console. The lighting manager for the stage was Callam Thom, and the console operator was Steven ‘Mac’ McCracken.
Southampton-based GLS Lighting supplied a MagicQ MQ100 plus Playback Wing for the Avalon Stage, which was overseen by console operator Will Thomas. The impressiv

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Germany - Barbara Schöneberger released her fourth album, Eine Frau gibt Auskunft in May and has recently presented it with 10 live shows across Germany.
The Event-Net GmbH from Halle (Saale) has been working for the singer since 2008 and has been a technical service provider for all tours and various individual shows. The team headed by managing director Kay Schöttner and technical department manager Mathias ‘Hein’ Schroeter was also responsible for the complete technology, the stage management and part of the tour management on this latest tour.
In 2004 Event-Net was one of the first users in Germany to invest in Alcons Audio. Since then, a stock of Alcons LR14 and LR16 including BF362 subwoofers has been established in Halle and used for past Schöneberger tours.
For the 2019 tour, however, they turned to the larger LR18 pro-ribbon line-array syst

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Spain - Martin by Harman Professional Solutions supported the International Music Summit (IMS) Dalt Vila finale on 26 May.
Martin supplied a full lighting rig, including MAC Quantum, Viper and Aura products, and also featured the recently-launched Atomic Strobe Dot.
Lighting designer Nick Jevons created the lighting display for the event, which was hailed by the organisers of IMS as the best lighting supplied in the 11 years it has presented the Dalt Vila finale.
Martin’s Spanish distributor, SeeSound, supplied logistical and technical support onsite to help ensure that things ran smoothly, Michael Walker, senior sales director at Martin by Harman also attended the event.
(Jim Evans)

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The Netherlands - Dutch singer Marco Borsato performed his anthemic back catalogue to 240,000 fans over five nights at Rotterdam’s De Kuip stadium in May. His dynamic songs and enthusiastic performance style required full spectrum coverage across the entire roof-less stadium, leading the production team to the d&b audiotechnik SL-Series.
Borsato is a national treasure in The Netherlands, thanks to a hit-making, multi-award-winning 20-year career. He is one of a handful of artists with the fanbase clout to play five nights at one of his country’s biggest venues - the 51,000 capacity De Kuip (which translates into English as ‘The Tub’- the affectionate nickname for the Stadion Feijenoord).
Utrecht-based d&b partner Peak Audio was challenged with providing a system that could deliver full-frequency range in the demanding open-air stadium environment.

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UK - Chroma-Q has celebrated 15 years of LED innovation with summer BBQs and open day events.
The events, held in the Northern and Southern offices of its UK dealer, A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET), provided an opportunity for Chroma-Q users, including lighting designers, specifiers, rental production companies and venues, to get hands-on with the latest fixtures.
The full Chroma-Q range was on display, including its film and broadcast portfolio, featuring the Space Force and Space Force onebytwo soft lights, the Studio Force II studio light, and the Brute Force quarter Wendy alternative.
In addition, the multi award-winning Color Force II cyc light and the Inspire range of colour changing LED house lights were also on show. The Vista 3 by Chroma-Q lighting and media control range of software and hardware solutions featured at the event as well.
The

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Belarus - Professional entertainment lighting manufacturer Prolights has appointed Kraftwerk Trade LLC as its distributor in Belarus.
The Minsk-based system integrator was founded in 2009 and has been involved in high-profile projects and installations, including the Chapel of St Christopher, Radisson Belarus and the headquarters of the National Olympic Committee of Belarus.
Fabio Sorabella, managing director of Prolights, comments: “Kraftwerk’s extensive skill set and accomplishments make them the perfect distribution partner in Belarus. As previous customers, they understand our values, and we thoroughly look forward to continuing the fantastic working relationship.”
Ulyana Barkova, deputy commercial director, adds: “We’ve used Prolights products for a while now and have been amazed by the quality, output and level of service. We look forward to what

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UK - Lighting designer James Scott used the VLZ Profile from Vari-Lite on the recent UK tour by hip-hop artist AJ Tracey.
The LED fixtures had the power Scott required to deliver a visual complement to the bright LED screens on the Brixton Academy showcase gig that closed the tour. Scott, of design studio Suluko, worked with production designer and creative director Bronski, and Amber Rimell, of TAWBOX on the tour’s design.
Scott had already been impressed by the output and performance delivered by just four LED-based VLZ Profiles on Tracey’s UK tour dates, where limited truck space had called for a minimal fixture count. “What we achieved with four VLZ Profiles would probably have required six of any other LED spot on the market,” he says.
With this experience, when three large, portrait LED video screens were added to the set for the Brixton show, Sc

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USA - Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, ZZ Top - long comprised of the classic trio of Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard - are celebrating their 50th anniversary by trekking through a world tour that runs into mid-October.
As a thank you to their fans in Texas, where the band got its humble start back in 1969, the tour kicked off with three consecutive shows in the Lone Star state, all of which were reinforced by Houston-based LD Systems with a long throw L-Acoustics K Series loudspeaker rig.
Sharing the bill with Bad Company, and joined by opener Cheap Trick, ZZ Top performed to full crowds at Dallas’ Dos Equis Pavilion, Houston’s Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, and the Austin360 Amphitheater in May, prior to heading to Europe.
LD Systems audio crew chief and systems engineer Julian Gates, who expresses his appreciation for S

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South Africa - Germany’s KlotzAIShas has appointed DWR Distribution as its new distribution partner for South Africa.
Frederic Kromberg, director of international sales at Klotz, visited DWR in Johannesburg to secure the deal. “Klotz cables have been available in South Africa well over 15 years, but as a strongly solution-oriented company - especially with rental companies, installers and broadcasting markets - we are very excited to develop and expand our cable business in South Africa with the highly professional team of DWR. We believe this is a great opportunity for DWR to develop our extensive product range.”
Duncan Riley of DWR Distribution, says: “I knew of the Klotz brand and always admired the quality. But I really got a good feeling when I met Frederic and realised that their company was as people orientated as what we are. It’s an honour to be the

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UK - Production company SFL has just completed the AV requirements for Christopher Wheeldon’s staging of Cinderella by the English National Ballet (ENB) and The Royal Albert Hall, staged at the RAH.
“The project was 18 months in the planning,” explains SFL director, Craig Lawrence. “ENB’s technical director, George Thomson, was looking to stage a large-scale production in-the-round. The production required many different changes of scene and the use of projection seemed the obvious answer. English National Ballet had never worked with projection on such a large scale before so turned to SFL to provide that experience.”
In the early planning stages, SFL was appointed as technical provider, tasked with designing and installing the AV infrastructure, utilising content provided by projection designer Daniel Brodie, which not only created incredible atmo

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Sweden - Astro Spatial Audio (ASA) has appointed Audile Electroacoustics AB as its official solutions partner for Sweden.
Audile will provide training and support whilst spearheading the expansion of Astro Spatial Audio’s brand-independent immersive audio technology into the country's entertainment sector.
“Our experience with these kinds of systems and the sonic evaluation of our trusted customers have all been clear that this is the best sounding platform on the market,” explains Mikael Collin, sales and project manager at Audile. “More or less all of the larger venues will be investing in this kind of technology to cope with future demands from productions so the number of possible installs over time is huge. We already have a lot of requests for demos.”
“We are both delighted and honoured to welcome Audile into our global family,” said Graham Mu

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USA - ETC’s new Response Mk2 DMX Gateways translate DMX/RDM to and from sACN, allowing users to put control exactly where they need it - saving money and time.
Available in one-, two- and four-port models, Response Mk2 DMX Gateways provide DMX and RDM data distribution, taking advantage of the reliability and interoperability of industry-standard protocols such as ANSI E1.31 (sACN) and ANSI E1.20 (RDM). Every model now features an OLED screen and four-button interface to display and modify configuration and status.
Response Mk2 DMX Gateways make it easy to deal with the headaches of networks, too, says the company. With increased processing, each Gateway can support 256 RDM devices. Plus, all Gateways can be monitored and configured from a central location with ETC’s Concert software, letting users change network status and DMX/RDM settings
Response Mk2 DMX

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South Africa - Robe Lighting is heading to South Africa to present a selection of its latest moving lights and LED technology on stand - C18 - at Mediatech Africa, at the Ticketpro Dome in Johannesburg, from 17-19 July.
This is the second time that Robe hosts its own stand at Mediatech, supporting its local distributor DWR. Expo visitors can look forward to meeting up with key Robe people including CEO Josef Valchar, international sales director Harry von den Stemmen, theatre and performing arts specialist Dave Whitehouse - who previously worked at DWR Distribution - lighting and media designer Nathan Wan and technical specialist Radim Zlebek.
Highlighted products will include the T1 Profile, T1 Wash, SuperSpikie, SilverScan, BMFL FollowSpot, BMFL WashBeam, MegaPointe, RoboSpot and Divine 160.
(Jim Evans)

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South Africa - Splitbeam, the theatre division of rental company Gearhouse, has invested in a DiGiCo SD7T supplied by DWR, DiGiCo’s distributor for the territory.
“Bad sound is as detrimental to a production as an actor forgetting their lines,” says Splitbeam’s MD, Alistair Kilbee. “Good sound feels natural, never taking away from what is happening on stage but supplementing it, giving the sound for the ears to match what the eyes see for the magic of theatre to take place.
“Mixing sound is the art of balance - balancing what comes out of the speaker to transform a noise into a recognisable piece of information that feels good to experience. This is where the gear becomes important. Having a console capable of not merely handling the show, but orchestrating it, the engineer acting as the conductor for the sounds, matching, mixing and blending them to becom

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UK - Brompton Technology has relaunched its website (www.bromptontech.com) which has “a new, modern look, an easy-to-navigate menu structure and extra features that provide a better overall user experience”.
“We wanted to ensure that the website reflects the easy to use, intuitive nature of Brompton’s LED processors and provides both useful and essential information in a much more user-friendly format than we had previously,” explains Brompton’s managing director, Richard Mead. “For example, in the 'Support' area, as well as the latest product information and downloads of the latest software, we have added a sign up page for our increasingly popular training programme, making it quick and simple to find out where and when courses are happening and reserve a place.
“This update is just the first phase, and we expect to add additional pages and functional
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