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22 October 2025

France - Known as the Black Pearl of the Mediterranean due to the basalt rock it is built on, Agde is one of the oldest cities in France.

In October 2025, residents celebrated a new development in their community with the inauguration of the Palais des Festivités, a modern and versatile facility designed to host a wide variety of arts, community, and festive events.

Replacing the city’s old festival hall, demolished as part of a wider redevelopment of the area, the main hall at the new venue has a seating capacity of 600 and can accommodate up to 2.5 times that number standing. It features acoustics designed for artistic performances and modular spaces, enabling it to adapt easily to the needs of each event.

With modularity at the heart of the brief for the sound system at Palais des Festivités, the AV and event technology specia

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22 October 2025

USA - Brent Washburn's first experience working in sound was mixing punk shows in his basement around 15 years ago. "I had an old analogue console with full D-sub output to a computer for recording," he recalled. "I met a lot of great artists from that experience, and started touring with a few of them."

After touring for a while, Washburn started looking for a more consistent experience at each venue. "I got tired of the console du jour, and having to dial in IEM mixes each time," he explained. "It left me less time to work on my front-of-house mix before we actually hit the stage."

Seeing influential engineers like Drew Thornton mix big acts on compact control surfaces inspired his next move. "That seemed to make a lot of sense," he recalled. "I heard how great their mixes sounded, and started seeing more and more people go that route."

In

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22 October 2025

South Korea - The 4,000-seat Manna Methodist Church in Bundang New City offers five services a week and has expanded its output to include performances, attracting thousands of congregation members to the church and large audiences online. To maximise flexibility and accommodate their expanding channel count, the Manna Church team made the decision to replace their existing SD7 with two DiGiCo Quantum 852, one in the church for live performances and another in their broadcast suite to manage online audio.

Overseeing the purchase and installation was DiGiCo’s South Korean distributor, Soundus Corporation. Soundus also commissioned and completed the original installation in 2012 and sales engineer Sean Kim is a regular visitor to the church. For him, DiGiCo’s stability was a large part of the decision process.

“The initial choice to use DiGiCo co

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22 October 2025

Romania - The Cocor Shopping Centre in Bucharest has unveiled a major upgrade to its massive digital signage display. The installation, a well-known feature of the city's urban landscape, has been revitalised with LED technology from Absen.

This landmark project was executed by local AV integration firm, Eltek. The project has transformed the facade, upgrading its visual performance, energy efficiency, and operational reliability to meet modern standards of performance.

For years, the Cocor’s LED system, based on older technology, had become difficult and expensive to maintain. The system's high energy consumption and frequent technical issues made it inefficient and unable to support modern visual digital campaigns. Additionally, the outdated content management system lacked modern automation features, further limiting its capabilities.

Th

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22 October 2025

Europe - ETC is expanding its Response Mk2 DMX Gateway family with two new eight-port options: a full-width Gateway with (eight) XLR connections, and a half-width Gateway with (eight) terminal connections.

Kirk Starks, ETC marketing product manager, says: “No matter if there are a bunch of homeruns from LED coves running back to an equipment rack, or a complex concert rig, I’m excited about the possibilities that come with trusted DMX control from these new eight-port gateways.” These higher-density gateways deliver the same system functionality at a lower price, while utilising less rack space. With multiple mounting options and repositionable network ports, the Response Mk2 8-port DMX Gateway ‘fits comfortably wherever it is needed’.

The Terminal version is the same size as ETC’s current four-port Gateway, packing twice the number of th

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21 October 2025

France - On 15 April 2019, a world-famous religious building was engulfed in flames, destroying its spire and roof and causing significant damage to the cathedral's altar, pipe organs, 13th-century rose windows and many religious relics. Five years later, on 7 December 2024, after what is described as one of the most ambitious and extensive house of worship reconstruction projects in modern history, the Notre-Dame de Paris officially reopened.

Appointed as the lead integrator for this momentous job, Novelty Paris handled the vast majority of the integration work, seeking critical support from its sister company De Préférence for fine-tuning and acoustic optimisation, and the wider Groupe Novelty companies to undertake the challenge of equipping the religious monument with a sophisticated and fully integrated audiovisual infrastructure.

The project

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21 October 2025

UK - TSL has continued to grow within the TV and broadcast lighting sector, consistently supporting a diverse range of high-profile sporting events both across the UK and internationally. Our commitment to excellence and our comprehensive capabilities ensure seamless and visually stunning broadcasts for major global events.

This past summer, TSL teams were instrumental in providing lighting and dedicated crew to various locations throughout England for the broadcast of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025. The tournament culminated in the finals held at Twickenham.

A record-breaking peak audience of 5.8m viewers tuned in across TV and streaming platforms to witness England’s victory. This final not only became the most-watched women’s rugby union match ever on UK television, but also secured its place as the most-watched rugby match of the

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21 October 2025

Australia - The Chandler Theatre, originally constructed for the 1982 Commonwealth Games, has long served as one of Brisbane’s most versatile performance spaces. With its original loudspeaker system reaching the end of life, the 1,500-seat venue required a modern upgrade capable of handling a wide range of programming, from school productions and orchestral concerts to national touring acts.

After a competitive design process, a new sound system based on JBL Professional’s VTX A6 subcompact line array was installed by High Noon Stage Productions, with system consultation by XConnect Professional Services and support from Australian distributor MadisonAV. The result is a powerful yet discreet audio solution that balances performance with architectural and operational requirements.

The final design features three hangs of eight JBL VTX A6 loudspeak

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21 October 2025

Bahrain - Egyptian superstar Tamer Hosny delivered a crowd-pleasing performance at the Beyon Al Dana Amphitheatre at the Exhibition World Bahrain in September, supported by an Adamson Systems Engineering sound system deployed by Showtech Productions Bahrain.

The Adamson E-Series serves as one of the company’s flagship large-format line arrays and has supported international tours and stadium-scale productions across the globe.

Producing a concert for Tamer Hosny requires great attention to detail, especially when delivering sound to a large, open amphitheatre. The production team needed a system that could provide both consistency and efficiency while maintaining clarity across the venue.

The E-Series presented the balance of power and practicality. Its lightning-fast rigging system and efficient truck pack design not only reduced set-up ti

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21 October 2025

Poland - The Municipal Culture Centre in the central Polish town of Gostynin was founded in 1993, and for more than three decades has been the community’s base for musical and theatre performances, social activities, and cinema screenings. More than two years ago, its management took the decision to modernise and refurbish the Centre, since which it has undergone a significant transformation.

Upgrading the venue’s technology was an important part of the project and audio specialist Tommex was engaged to design, supply, and install a quality sound system to cater for a demanding programme of theatre shows and concerts.

Tommex chose Coda Audio’s N-APS compact arrayable point source for the 250-seat auditorium.

The flown system installed at the Centre comprised three N-APS and two N-SUB per side supplemented by a single, centrally mounted

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21 October 2025

The Netherlands - Spot is an umbrella organisation set up to run music productions staged at two busy venues in the city of Groningen – De Oosterpoort and the municipality’s main theatre, Stadsschouwburg.

Since 1973, De Oosterpoort has been the leading music venue in the area and is the home of the Noord Nederlands Orkest and the four-day Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS) festival, plus numerous other shows, productions and business events. Last year, Oosterpoort’s first Robe moving lights arrived as part of an upgrade to start replacing their old halogen stock with LED luminaires, with more recently delivered, so all their moving lights are now LED-based.

The venue has three halls. The Grote Zaal (Main Hall) can accommodate 1,850 standing and 1,150 seated, the Kleine Zaal (Small Hall) has a capacity of 750 standing and 450 seated, and the

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21 October 2025

UK - Based on Lawrence Kasdan’s 1992 Oscar-nominated Warner Bros. film starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner, the hit musical The Bodyguard returns with a UK tour running from 2025 to 2026. Directed by Thea Sharrock, the production transitions between concert-style spectacle and intimate, suspenseful storytelling.

It features a lighting design by Mark Henderson, working in close collaboration with associate lighting designer Dale Driscoll and lighting programmer Stuart (Stacy) Cross. The team approached White Light (WL) to supply the touring rig, continuing a long-standing partnership; WL previously supported the original West End production and subsequent tours.

Now in its fourth UK tour and 20th iteration overall, The Bodyguard has evolved significantly. Dale explains: “The show moves from big concert-style production num

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21 October 2025

Germany - One of the country's most acoustically revered concert halls has been transformed. Originally built in 1926 as a planetarium, Tonhalle Düsseldorf was converted into a concert hall during the 1970s and has since earned worldwide recognition for its exceptional natural acoustics.

Today, the venue serves as home to the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra while hosting an eclectic mix of classical, rock, pop, comedy and cabaret performances. But when the hall's aging sound system began experiencing critical failures, Tonhalle faced the urgent challenge of installing an audio system worthy of a venue approaching its centennial without compromising its acoustic integrity. 

The solution came through a competitive EU-wide public tender won by integrator Thomann Audio Professional. Following a system design developed by consultancy firm Bühnenplanung

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21 October 2025

UK - As 2025’s UK City of Culture, Bradford is playing host to an extensive programme of events in the arts and entertainment field, and has invested in a number of innovative creative spaces to provide opportunities for people to engage with cultural events.

One of the most versatile is The Beacon, a custom-made mobile venue, which is being constructed, dismantled and moved between four different parks across the 141 sq.mile district. A full schedule of events at each site includes weekday shows and weekend festivals, featuring music, comedy, clubs, classes, family activities and more.

Bradford-based specialist Pro Audio Systems (PAS) was engaged to supply and install the venue’s technical requirements, including a robust and flexible lighting system from Chauvet Professional, which could cater for the wide-ranging demands of the venue’s ambit

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21 October 2025

Europe - Ayrton has announced the launch of MagicDot Neo, the latest evolution of its MagicDot family of fixtures and the latest addition to its IP65 Creative Series. Compact, lightweight and powerful, MagicDot Neo features a 100mm lens seamlessly set within a perfect sphere.

The performance of MagicDot Neo is largely based on its extreme miniaturisation and minimalist cylindrical shape. Measuring only 35cm, but with continuous double rotation on the pan and tilt axes, MagicDot Neo is capable of ‘truly magnificent feats’. Fixtures can be clustered with minimal spacing between units to open up configurations that were previously impossible. Individual control over each light source is maintained in every direction meaning high levels of integration are now possible, even allowing the creation of ultra-compact matrices or concentric circles in which the fi

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21 October 2025

Czech Republic - KV2 Audio has announced the latest addition to its VHD Series with the VHD7000D subwoofer amplifier. Engineered to drive all VHD, ES, and SL subwoofer elements, the VHD7000D is aimed at large-scale events. Its advanced setup options allow for effortless integration into any KV2 Audio system. 

This universal bass amplifier is fully compatible with third-party subwoofers – a first for KV2. An innovative power management system enables the VHD7000D to deliver short-term power of 7kW, with peak output up to 14kW, while operating at a modest consumption of only 3.6kW from a 16A circuit. The peak output power extends far beyond the capacity of the mains supply and outperforms comparable amplifiers.

A standout is the integrated RMS limiter, which provides long-term protection for loudspeaker components by monitoring average power over ti

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21 October 2025

USA - Renkus-Heinz has announced the launch of third-party control plugin modules for Crestron and Q-SYS, developed in partnership with Control Concepts – specialists in AV software development and API integration.

“We are pleased to offer the first of our new series of third-party plugins, specifically for Q-SYS and Crestron Series 4,” says product manager Brandon Heinz. “These plugins have been widely requested by our customers, and we are excited to announce that they are now available to download for use on your next project. Designed to streamline control and monitoring for large-scale projects, the plugins aim to simplify the work of our customers out in the field.”

Beyond workflow improvements, the plugins are backed by Control Concepts’ official supported product programme. Control Concepts’ ongoing support of the plugins empowe

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21 October 2025

Grassroots - Arts Council England is to invest £42m into grassroots culture projects over the next three years of its Creative People and Places portfolio. It represents the largest sum to be distributed so far as part of the programme, which funds community-led creative initiatives in areas where involvement in the arts is below the national average.

The refreshed portfolio of projects to receive funding is also the largest yet, ACE said, spanning 63 local authority areas, with Croydon, Nuneaton and Bedworth among the localities set to benefit from the funding for the first time. Existing initiatives, including Flux in Rotherham and Appetite in Stoke-on-Trent, which promote arts and culture involvement for locals, will be supported to expand their work.

The funding body said that £162m will now have been invested in more than 15,000 grass

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20 October 2025

USA - DiGiCo’s Quantum112 compact flypack mixer – previously codenamed Pufferfish – is already being put through its paces by Ed Sheeran’s FOH engineer, Simon Kemp, and production manager, Chris Marsh.

Appropriately, the tiny desk had its first official deployment on National Public Radio’s Tiny Desk Concerts video series, recorded live at NPR Music’s office in Washington, DC. The very next day, the ‘still-secret digital mixer’ was in Williamsburg’s Domino Park in Brooklyn, New York for an exclusive TikTok LIVE performance promoting Sheeran’s eighth and latest album, Play.

DiGiCo has enjoyed a long history with Sheeran, tracing back to 2011, when Chris Marsh began mixing the artist’s early solo tours on a compact SD11. In 2017, to accommodate an ever-increasing need for more busses, Marsh stepped up to

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20 October 2025

Romania - The launch season of new Romanian TV talent show The Ticket premiered in September and is being recorded at Castel Studios just outside Bucharest. It is produced by Imagic and Antena 1 and lit by lighting designer/DoP Dan Andrei and lighting director Marius Matyas, using a large Robe moving light rig, which is owned by the Antena TV Group.

The show highlights the talent of the performers and the quality and professionalism of their stagecraft, which gets rated for creativity, entertainment value and audience engagement, judged by both a panel of celebs and the public, who vote – via an app – on the ticket price they would theoretically pay to see this act live. Each of the 14 rounds finishes with a winner who goes through to the finale in December.

The acts can vary greatly from a children’s choir group or a pop band, to a gr