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UK - PLASA has said the 2018 edition of the PLASA Show has been ‘the busiest and most vibrant’ show since it moved to London Olympia in 2016.
PLASA 2018, which took place on 16-18 September, saw a 4% increase in visitors with a palpable atmosphere that was reminiscent of its popular Earls Court days. The show welcomed a stream of exhibitors and attendees from around the world, primed to explore the leading edge of live entertainment technology.
The expo also confirmed its importance for networking and trade, with 63% of visitors being final decision makers or specifiers, and a quarter being business owners, managers and directors.
Jonathan Walters, UK sales and purchasing director from A.C Entertainment Technologies comments: “This third year back in West Lo

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Take That Back - Take That have announced a greatest hits tour to mark their 30th anniversary next year. Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen will kick off their UK arena tour in April with two shows at Sheffield's FlyDSA Arena. They will go on to play in Glasgow, their home city of Manchester, and six dates at London's O2 Arena. The tour will also see them perform in Dublin, Birmingham, Milton Keynes, Southampton, Bristol City, Norwich, Middlesbrough and Huddersfield.
A new Take That album, Odyssey, is also being released on 23 November. It will feature 27 tracks spanning three decades of the band's history, as well as three new songs.
Training Opportunities - Lighting designer Paule Constable has called on theatres to provide more training opportunities for emerging designers. Constable was speaking at The Stage Debut Awards 2018, where she p

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UK - Technical manager and vision engineer John Steele has joined Blitz, a GES company, as technical director.
Prior to joining Blitz, Steele specialised in providing engineering support, planning and technical solutions for large-scale, multi-camera mobile broadcasts.
Steele has engineered and managed in most areas of the video industry, including corporate presentations, concert tours and international sports coverage.
Steele is responsible for running the Blitz technical teams, including video, sound, lighting and set and staging, as well as the project management team. In this role, Steele is part of the Blitz senior leadership team and reports to Blitz managing director Mike Phillipson.
Phillipson commented, “As Blitz grows, we need to bring in the very best talent and John Steele certainly fits that bill. His wide-ranging technical experience an
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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 - Robert Juliat was awarded a prestigious PLASA Award for Innovation for its SpotMe, a creative tracking system that works in association with followspots. The Innovation Awards took place at the PLASA Show (16-18 October) amid huge competition, with 47 entries and only eight Awards at stake.
SpotMe is Robert Juliat’s bespoke, 3D tracking system for followspots and the only performer tracking system to be driven via a real followspot. The SpotMe system communicates the X, Y, Z positions and the beam size parameters to the console. All parameters are then used by the console to control any automated or static lights, and coordinate stage lighting to follow performers, without the need for on-stage/performer sensors or cameras. It is a unique bolt-on system that can be added to existing followspots without the need to invest in complete new systems.
The judges consi

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UK - Data Strategy says its stand was ‘buzzing with activity’ as it exhibited at PLASA 2018.
The company’s new VeriCal, which verifies that the Out Board PAT-4 testers are within their operational specifications, received particular attention. VeriCal is the latest Data Strategy product to combine hardware with intelligent software. The new product ensures the appliance test units within the QC-Check Workstation produce verified and accurate results.
Data Strategy MD, Iain Roche, comments: “We had a very busy show, seeing a combination of existing customers, contacts who have shown protracted interest and brand-new prospects. VeriCal attracted much interest especially from potential oversees customers who perceived its purpose, which is to ensure the Pat-4 remains in its operational specifications.
“Power-Check, the QC-Check distro test module, also a

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UK - In mid-September a small piece of Japan appeared in West London for three days - and it proved a real talking point as Yamaha and Nexo exhibited at PLASA 2018.
This year’s stand was the brainchild of Chris Irvine, Yamaha Commercial Audio (UK and RoI) marketing manager, and Gareth Collyer, Nexo sales manager (UK and RoI). PLASA London tends to attract a high number of students and, with a shrewd eye to making the most of any free publicity generated by the ‘Instagram generation’, they created a stand themed as a Japanese garden.
Yamaha highlighted the long-term success of the company’s digital mixing consoles by showcasing the latest Rivage PM7 system next to a PM5D, one of its most famous products. Loaned for the show by Britannia Row Productions, it featured along an information panel about the number of high profile artists that particular console has wo

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France - Lighting design studio, LightLab, headed by lighting designer and art director Alexandre LeBrun, created a flexible and impactful lighting and stage design for French rapper Nekfeu’s summer tour based around mobile walls of light and used Elation Professional’s new multi-functional Smarty Hybrid CMY colour mixing moving head, supplied by Dushow, to realise the stunning look.
Nekfeu toured across France this past summer, playing a dozen concerts including festivals such as Lollapalooza, Solidays, and Marsatac. LightLab, who also worked with Nekfeu and his S-Crew on last year’s Zenith tour, developed what LeBrun calls a “very simple yet radical” design for the 2018 summer tour.
“I wanted to create a panoramic light design, horizontal and low,” he explains, “so I designed walls of light with the idea of only using it on the stage. The idea

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UK - MDG enjoyed a successful PLASA London where it presented its latest products. These included the new IP55-rated Me2 WPE fog and ATMe WPE haze generators, a standard Me2 fog generator, theFAN digital fan, and the ICE FOG Compack HP low fog generator alongside two award-winning products theONE dual mode haze and fog generator, winner of the LDI Best Debut product in 2010, and the RFP (Round Floor Pocket) which won the ABTT Engineering Product of the Year 2018 in June.
Alongside its regular stand, MDG had two of its new ATMe WPE weatherproof hazer generators and an ICE FOG Compack HP involved in the spectacular dance and light show on the adjacent Robe booth.
Inspired by Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider movies, the show environment emulated tropical forests, caves and volcanoes. Here the ATMe WPE machines showed their true mettle as they stood for three days under torre

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USA - Over 60 worship bands took to the stage at Soulfest in early August in Gilford NH. Not all of them were as famous as the festival’s headliners (a group that included for King & Country, Skillet, and Toby Mac.), but each was supported by a lightshow worthy of a star, thanks to a main stage rig that featured over 75 Chauvet Professional fixtures.
“We designed this rig to be complete so it could provide big looks for the opening acts, while also complementing the floor packages brought in by the headliners,” said Tim Messina of Events United, which also supplied a “world class sound system” for the event. “As Soulfest has continued to grow over the years, Events United’s role has grown with it - from first providing production for a few smaller stages, to this year providing full production (audio, video, lighting, and backline) for the lar

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Belgium - Tomorrowland, the Belgium electronic dance music festival, this year revealed the Atmosphere Stage, a new futuristic tent where L-Acoustics’ L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound delivered deeply vibrant beats as festival goers bathed in stunning visuals for a unprecedented musical experience.
L-Acoustics has collaborated with the festival alongside Noizboyz, designers of Tomorrowland audio systems, since 2011. This year was no different, with over 600 L-Acoustics cabinets supplied by Phlippo Productions deployed on six stages, including the massive 115m wide Story of Planaxis Main Stage, across the vast festival site.
With the Atmosphere Stage, We Are One World set out to elevate the concert experience with a festival tent stage like no other. Recognising the impact of L-ISA in creating powerful shared connections between artists and audiences,

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UK - The Alan Turing Imaginarium is a flexible event space in the BBC’s Dock House at Media City, Salford. It is used for conferences, meetings and as a presentation and studio space from which to broadcast coverage on events such as the recent Winter Olympics and Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. Stage Electrics was contracted to install a lighting grid that would be able to meet the needs of such a multipurpose space.
“The grid and all its elements were carefully considered to make sure they were both aesthetically pleasing and in keeping with the room,” explains Stage Electrics project manager, Matthew Addison. “For the times when the room is not being used as a studio, a simple infrastructure of distributed production lighting power and DMX was installed to support event and mood lighting.”
The design had to take into account the shape of the room, which is

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UK - Manchester-based technical production supplier Sterling Event Group has invested in Sennheiser’s Digital 6000 series to enhance its audio offering.
The investment, including EM 6000 digital 2-channel receivers, SKM 6000 handheld transmitters with MD 9235 capsules, SK 6000 beltpacks and L 6000 charging stations, will allow Sterling to “future-proof its inventory and offer clients a digital solution”. Sterling has also added additional Sennheiser 2000 Series IEMs to its stock.
Ben Marshall, head of audio at Sterling, comments: “With increased restrictions on available spectrum for radio microphones and in ear monitors we needed a solution to give us the channels we require even in the most challenging RF environments. By utilising Sennheiser Digital 6000 which is intermodulation free we can place frequencies in an equidistant frequency grid to maximise chan

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USA - Justin Timberlake’s The Man of the Woods tour, which is scheduled to run through to early 2019, is arguably his most expansive yet from an audio perspective.
Taking place over two legs of North America whilst also visiting Europe, the in-the-round production boasts winding walkways thrusted out from main stage to two satellite stages. FOH engineer Andy Meyer, who has been working with Timberlake since 2005, chose an Optocore fibre network solution to handle the complex D/A conversion necessitated by this.
The sound engineer had earlier spent considerable time exploring different platforms, along with system tech Justin Lenards and fellow engineer Ozzy Giron. But having had previous experience with the Optocore environment via DiGiCo consoles, he wasted little time in venturing down this path for his signal transport. “The solution was obvious to me rig

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World - American indie rock band The War on Drugs is currently on a world tour following the release of the band's Grammy-winning fourth studio album A Deeper Understanding. The six-piece band is known for a comprehensive on-stage presence, with lots of instruments and backline to keep the sound engineers busy.
To cope with over 80 inputs, often complex and dynamic material, and a tendency to take tracks to unexpected places, monitor engineer Laurence Eaves (Beirut, Local Natives) and Front of House engineer Bob Strakele (Avenged Sevenfold, Papa Roach, James) both chose Solid State Logic L500 Plus consoles, supplied by touring and systems integration company LMG.
From the inception of the tour, the intention was always to go big and make sure the band's full potential was realised. "For this tour, we decided to shoot for the stars and go with what we really want

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UK - The Great North Star performance in Newcastle was the culmination to the Great Exhibition of the North. Televised on the BBC, this ambitious outdoor performance celebrated pioneering woman through sporting history. The event took place outside The Sage Gateshead, with the Tyne and cityscape providing the backdrop to the night time performance.
IPS provided all the lighting and sound production, along with the production structures for a long-standing client, with Andy Marshall heading up the IPS onsite team, working with production manager Nigel Mousley and director Bradley Hemmings.
Over 400 lighting fixtures were used on the production, almost all of them from the IP-rated range of the IPS hire inventory. A 100m running track provided the performance area for the event, with scenic specialist Stage One suppling the stage structure and impressive set pieces (incl

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UK - The Association of Lighting Designers (ALD) has now announced its Sponsored Student Scheme for 2019 is open for applications.
The scheme offers students who have not previously been members of the ALD to enjoy free ALD membership until the end of March 2020.
Student members benefit from the increased opportunity to network with lighting and video production professionals at insightful events organised by the ALD, such as their monthly members’ socials and visits to shows and theatres.
Member benefits for students also include complimentary copies of the ALD magazine, Focus, as well as full access to the ALD web site and the members’ own micro-site. Members also receive a 25% discount on the monthly or annual premium subscription fee for Mandy.com.
Rory Beaton, of the ALD student and awards sub-committees, comments: “The ALD’s sponsored studen

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USA - On The Run II. marks the first world tour together in four years for Beyoncé and Jay-Z. In that time, the music has become more complex and so has the stage show. The two stars are backed by a sizable combination of their individual bands, including an entire horn section, as well as backup vocalists and dancers, all of whom wear in-ear monitors, as well as wireless microphones for every vocalist.
All of these elements are connected via an Optocore HMA fibre loop between two DiGiCo SD7 consoles for the FOH mix (one primary console and a second for use by supporting acts on the tour) feeding a d&b audiotechnik J-Series PA system, while four more SD7 desks are assigned to the monitor mixes.
In addition, another SD7 is on the tour to mix full-band rehearsals as set lists change and new songs or new arrangements are added (the duo’s hit album, Everyt

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UK - For the past four years, the Lightpower Collection has toured worldwide with In the Eye of the Rock ’n’ Roll Hurricane, an exhibition which shows the body of work from acclaimed rock ‘n’ roll photographer, Neal Preston. In it are more than 70 of his iconic pictures: legendary album covers, views behind the scenes, moments that made history - the essence of rock ’n’ roll and concert touring that has dominated out industry since the late '60s.
Neal Preston’s fine art prints are highly sought after by collectors worldwide, and Lightpower Collection donates all proceeds from the sale of prints and merchandise to Behind the Scenes and Backup - two technical entertainment charities that provide relief for event technicians in need.
At PLASA 2018, the Lightpower Collection was proud to be able to donate another £10,000 to Backup. The donati

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Norway - Ayrton has appointed Bary AS as its exclusive distributor for Norway.
Bary AS is one of Norway’s largest suppliers of technical solutions and equipment for concerts, festivals, events and other productions with many years of experience and expertise.
Jerad Garza, Ayrton international sales manager, comments: “Bary is made up of passionate professionals whose ambition for excellence appear in their every undertaking. We embrace their values and love their energy, which make Bary and Ayrton a great fit. We’re excited to have Bary AS join the Ayrton family.”
Morten Bakke, business development manager for Bary AS, adds: “We are delighted to start our journey as Norwegian distributor of Ayrton. This is the result of three months of intense effort from our development, sales and lighting departments during which time we thoroughly researched the lig

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Europe - Audio-Technica has agreed to distribute Martin Audio in Germany, effective 1 October.
The audio brand’s official distributor will be Audio Technica Germany, which also distributes Allen & Heath and Clear-Com. The new distributor will be responsible for sales in both the installation and rental staging channels. It has appointed Tobi Franzgrothe, who has long experience with Martin Audio after working with the manufacturer’s previous distributor, as brand manager.
Matthias ‘Mex’ Exner, general manager of Audio-Technica Germany, comments: “It’s a case of two great brands joining forces to create an outstanding offering in both these sectors. Martin Audio comfortably bridges the gap between our great mics and wireless systems, through the A&H consoles, to the audience’s ears.”
Bradley Watson, Martin Audio EMEA sales manager, adds:

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UK - Dan Ryan has been promoted to commercial manager for Stage Electrics’ and Northern Lights’ testing and inspection division.
Previously the company’s electrical compliance and quality manager, Ryan is now responsible for ensuring the provision of compliance and maintenance services enabling customers across the UK to enjoy peace of mind about the condition and safety of their technical performance systems.
Dan Aldridge, commercial director at Stage Electrics, comments: “After a demanding 12 months with levels of business continuing to grow significantly, we have appointed a commercial manager to focus on leading the commercial, engineering and quality aspects of our testing and inspection offering. Dan has recently achieved professional recognition as an incorporated engineer from the Institution of Engineering and Technology. It’s great to be able to o
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