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World - Philips Lighting reports that its stage lighting fixture, the Philips VL6000 Beam, is delivering a powerful impact for the Crazy World Tour by German heavy metal band Scorpions.
The power and quality of the output from the 36 Philips VL6000 Beams solves several challenges for Scorpions' lighting designer, Manfred Nikitser. His lighting fixtures need to provide enough punch to cut through the light from the LED screens on the stage, and be strong enough to deal with long throw distances, as the lighting trusses are trimmed at between 10m and 14m above the stage.
"The VL6000s give exactly the strong look this kind of rock show needs," says Nikitser, "and even with full content on the screens, I can still make an awesome light show! If you look for fixtures

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UK - The Natural History Museum in London made waves on New Year’s Eve with 700 guests celebrating Under the sea festivities inspired by the Hintze Hall’s newly-installed blue whale skeleton.
The evening saw celebrations of oceanic proportions organised by Amy O’Brien, senior event co-ordinator, in partnership with Guilty Pleasures who provided DJs and live entertainment.
During highly competitive games of Musical Bingo, guests battled it out marking off songs played in Museum-themed rounds to win a range of prizes from the shop. Revellers also engaged with the latest ‘Massaoke’ craze sweeping the nation, a mass participation karaoke sing-along with crowds guided by big screen lyrics.
White Light enhanced the spaces with lighting and audio elements to create an immersive experience for the party-goers with atmospheric soundscapes throughout to h

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UK - Since Pearce Hire first committed to an intern development programme with local Further Education College Peterborough Regional College (PRC) over four years ago, the main Pearce Hire team has expanded with a number of permanent members of staff who honed their skills through the project.
The internship programme at Pearce Hire is headed up by Jim Brown, warehouse manager, and students are given the opportunity to gain practical, hands-on experience of working at the HQ of this busy rental production company.
Brown picks up the story: “This year there have been some new requirements set down for the students and their course work, and because we acknowledge the value the intern programme brings to Pearce Hire on a number of levels, then we were more than happy to adapt our structure to suit.”
As a result, throughout 2017, Pearce Hire has embarked on v
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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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USA - Fans who pack the Pageant Theatre to capacity for six or seven El Monstero shows every holiday season never quite know what to expect. Certainly, they’re re going to hear spot-on renditions of The Wall, Dark Side of the Moon and other Pink Floyd classics, but beyond its music, this Christmas tradition in America’s heartland is full of delightful visual surprises.
Drawing on a cast of up to 75 characters, the annual tribute show in St. Louis has been coming up with novel and enthralling dramatizations and set designs every year since it was started by members of different local bands in 1999. True to form, the 2017 rendition of El Monstero sparkled with a lively and fresh-looking stage presentation, thanks in no small part to a convention-defying lightshow designed by Chip Self that featured a collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures, including the

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USA - Andrew Peterson’s 18th annual Behold The Lamb Of God Tour returned to Nashville for two shows featuring a lighting package provided by Bandit Lites.
The moving show presents the Christmas story with musical numbers that move from the Old Testament to the New. Lighting designer Winn Elliott is nearly a dozen years into designing this production and credits his history with Andrew Peterson into knowing what direction to take the lighting each year.
“Andrew and I have worked together for so long that I have a good understanding of what he will and won’t like,” said Elliott. “We’re in many ways cut from the same cloth from a design standpoint: my goal is to add a very intentional visual interest and beauty to the evening and to complement all that is happening on stage. That typically involves building looks that don’t have a ton of movement or

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USA - Scorpions have wrapped the first North American leg of the Crazy World Tour 2017 with Megadeath. A large complement of Claypaky fixtures hit the road with the German rockers
The North American leg’s September and October dates included a performance at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, the first time the band played the venue since 1984.
Lighting and show director Manfred Nikitser, of Manfred Nikitser Show Lighting, designed a “classic rock show” with “big, strong looks” to please audiences who expected “a good rock show”. He created a “clean overall look with big LED screens, thrust and ego risers plus a massive angled stage set. My intention was to meld lighting and video, so LED screens were a lighting element that actually immersed the stage with saturated colour” for some songs. Live camera integration was a big part too, bu

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USA - Clair Brothers has added two new companies in their growing sales network - Marshank Group and Quest Marketing.
The Marshank Group serves southern California, southern Nevada and Arizona. Paul Hugo, principal of the Marshank Group, says: “I first mixed on a Clair Brothers PA back in the early 80’s at Radio City Music Hall when I was touring with Jose Louis Rodriguez. The S4 was ground-breaking back then and to have an opportunity to work with Clair Brothers, the company that has set so many standards since that time, is a lot of fun and an honour for me personally.
“And with the Marshank Group, I relish the opportunity to take one of the best-known brands in the touring industry and introduce it to a large group of potential customers that didn’t know they could purchase that brand for use in their own designs and applications.”
Quest Marketing is

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Australia - Sir Paul McCartney brought his long-running One On One tour to Australia this December - his first Australian tour since 1993’s The New World tour.
The show featured nearly three hours’ worth of the greatest moments from the last 50 years of music. FOH engineer Paul ‘Pab’ Boothroyd has been with Sir Paul for a fair portion of this journey.
“I first started working for him in 1989,” said Pab. “As well as being on stage for three hours, he also does a one-hour sound check every day. With line checks and system checks as well, I’m probably behind the console twiddling knobs for five hours so it’s quite an extensive day technically.”
That FOH console was an Avid Venue S6L which Pab has used ever since it was released and he describes it as one of the best consoles on the market. Pab’s S6L carries dialled-in snapshots fo

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UK - Dubai-based Protec has acquired Birmingham-based Aventeq.
The UK company, which offers a comprehensive suite of services, including creative & technical design, production, lighting, audio, video, staging, rigging and venue support services, will be renamed to Protec European Events and continue to be lead by its founder Chris Bramwell.
Stephen Lakin, Protec’s founder and CEO, says: “I have a lot of time for Chris Bramwell and the team. They have built up a strong business and I’m thrilled to welcome them into the Protec family. I am looking forward to the opportunity to introduce their customers to a wider global reach and more exciting tools & technology to create unique and memorable event experiences.”
Bramwell adds: "Aventeq, which of course I’m thrilled to say, is now Protec European Events, has a similar passion to Protec. We are very

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USA - Margie Kirby has joined husband Rik Kirby at the helm of Allied Professional Technologies where she will be extending the company’s services further into the marketing realm.
With over 28 years of experience in the professional audio industry Kirby most recently held the post of director of marketing at Renkus-Heinz, prior to which she held marketing and trade show management roles with TEAC’s Tascam division.
"At Allied Professional Technologies we provide a flexible approach to US distribution which we feel reflects the way the industry and supply chain have changed over the last 10 years or so,” explains Rik Kirby. "For Linea Research we operate as a full-service distributor while for Luminex we work as an extension of their existing North American operation. Now with Margie joining us, we’ll be able to offer our partners increased marketing services

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UK - Pharos Architectural Controls has made a series of internal promotions and role changes across all its teams.
Thomas Ladd has been promoted to the role of international sales director. He is now directly managing the sales team worldwide and developing commercial strategies in Pharos’ key territories. Ladd has been with Pharos since 2010, and has been instrumental in growing its business with key customers in North America during that time.
Pharos managing director Chris Hunt comments: “Tom’s promotion is a great fit for his experience and skills, and it comes at a very exciting time for Pharos to help progress our presence in the fixed installation market.”
Bas Hoksbergen is now architectural market manager, with a broad remit to develop strategies that take Pharos into new markets in the wider world of architectural lighting. He will also be taking

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The Netherlands - 4EVAC will showcase its Compact 500 voice evacuation system alongside its 4EVAC LoopDrive Fault Isolator Module (FIM) and offer a preview of their new IMPACT system at ISE 2018.
Both 4EVAC products represent installation efficiency as cost effective solutions either as stand-alone units or as a complementary integrated solution, says the company.
4EVAC de-mystifies VACIE (voice alarm control and indicating equipment) with the Compact 500 and its new IMPACT solution. Its compact footprint and modular design offers seamless integration as a ‘lean & mean’ solution that’s set apart as a ‘system in a box’.
Albert Van Der Hout, business development director, comments: “We are looking forward to introducing our 4EVAC range again at ISEurope and a glimpse of our new IMPACT system. It is a vital showcase for us at a point when both the Co

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USA - Tomcat and JTE racked up another successful show at LDI that not only featured their current line of products, but also the products they had each manufactured over the years that allowed them to experience the success they both enjoy today.
The walk-through time was to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Tomcat and the 40th anniversary of James Thomas Engineering in truss manufacturing, but the main thrust of the show was to highlight their current line of truss products and new innovations.
This year’s LDI show was also the introduction of Carmen Savarese as the new sales & marketing director for the Tomcat and JTE teams.
The star of Tomcat’s presentation was its new Nemesis pre-rig truss that comes in standard and touring formats. Its single person side loading system allows you to easily rig moving lights to the aluminium bar, slide into the truss

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The Netherlands - RMG Networks will launch its content management system (CMS) Korbyt at ISE 2018.
The platform enables organisations to communicate to multiple users on different formats from a single platform, whether via AV LED displays, regular screens, desktop computers or mobile devices.
Supported by the most popular web technologies and able to run on any JavaScript-based technology, Korbyt can be integrated into any IT infrastructure, with a mobile application available on iOS and Android.
The platform is flexible enough though to be tailored to individual users, making it ideal for delivering personal messages, whether that’s a bolt-on promotion to a retail customer for a recent purchase, a tailored message about performance to an employee, or news about what is available to a hotel visitor.
The scalability and flexibility of Korbyt means

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UAE - At the end of August an exciting event took place at Al Habtoor City in the heart of Dubai. La Perle, the spectacular new acrobatic water show from Franco Dragone, opened its doors for the first time, with four Robert Juliat Cyrano 2500W HMI chosen as La Perle’s followspots (read more about the production in LSi December 2017).
La Perle is a landmark for Dubai with a trio of firsts - Dragone’s first show in the Emirates, Dubai’s first large scale theatre dedicated to just one show and the only live residency ever to be performed in Dubai. Sixty five international artists are showcased against a dreamscape world in which they display their acrobatic, aquatic and aerial acting skills in a series of awe-insp

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USA - Wall High School in Wall Township in Monmouth County, NJ, was planning to replace its sound system as part of the overall facilities refurbishment.
JD Sound & Video had provided the sound for a number of schools locally and this led Tom Ridoux, the school’s athletics director, to call them in for discussion. The brief was for a system that would provide high intelligibility coverage for the home bleachers, field, visitors and concessions areas. Additionally, the system was required to provide entertainment quality music.
JD Sound & Video designed a system based around Community’s R Series loudspeakers and, following its presentation to the school, was awarded the project. “With considerable experience in R Series’ superb sound quality, coverage patterns and all-weather reliability, it was our first choice of loudspeaker system for Wall High School

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Germany - Kassel-based event service provider JS Event & Medientechnik recently invested in 24 x XR 440 BWS moving heads from PR Lighting, responding to the ever-increasing quality demands of events of all sizes. This was the company’s first investment in PR Lighting technology, and all fixtures were supplied by Focon Showtechnik, PR Lighting’s German distributor.
Since being set up in 1999, the team at JS Event & Media Technology has been managing the technical requirements of events of all sizes, from large-scale projects to congresses and weddings.
"With the XR440 BWS from PR Lighting, we are adding a genuine highlight to our rental fleet thanks to the extraordinary prismatic effects,” says Jens Berthold, managing director of JS. “The good rental prospects and excellent product references left us in no doubt that in the BWS we had found the right pr

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UK - The newly opened Darlington Hippodrome, formerly known as Darlington Civic Theatre, has been restored to its former glory and transformed with 21st century technical facilities that include new stage lighting, audio and video systems.
Featuring leading brands including Chroma-Q, Allen & Heath, Panasonic and many more, most loose equipment was supplied by A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET).
The theatre received a £5m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) towards the ambitious £13.7m project to regenerate and upgrade the venue, which also included restoring the exterior of the distinctive Grade II listed building and the beautiful Edwardian auditorium inside. In addition, seating capacity has been increased to enable larger shows to be accommodated as part of an expanded artistic programme.
Darlington Hippodrome is also managing the newly-buil

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USA - Winners in the New Group category at the 2016 Academy of Country Music Awards Old Dominion have been touring its Happy Endings album, and supporting the likes of Kenny Chesney and Thomas Rhett. The band has also been confirmed for Chesney’s Trip Around the Sun stadium tour in 2018.
Earlier this year, FOH engineer Ian Zorbaugh and monitor engineer Dean Studebaker decided to take SSL L300 Plus consoles, supplied by premier event production company Morris Lighting & Sound, on the road with Old Dominion.
Zorbaugh chose the SSL L300 because of the positive feedback he was hearing from other engineers - particularly Chris Rabold, who used L500 on the Kenny Chesney tour, which Old Dominion have been supporting. "The main thing I heard about the SSLs was that they sound absolutely phenomenal - that you need minimal EQ, less processing, and so on. I wa

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Serbia - Perched along the banks of the Danube river some 60 miles from the hustle and bustle of capital Belgrade, the city of Novi Sad has been traditionally renowned for its relaxed and welcoming character. In recent years, however, the local character of Novi Sad has expanded by a collection of locally hosted, yet internationally renowned music festivals, including the infamous Exit and the Novi Sad jazz festival.
Another event putting Novi Sad on the musical map is the Green Love festival, an electronic Mecca attracting thousands of clubbing enthusiasts from Serbia and neighbouring countries such as Hungary, Croatia and Romania. For the most recent Green Love event, which saw DJs such as Metodi Hristov, Lea Dobričić and NUSHA take to the stage, AVL Projekt supplied Chameleon Rental with 16 Chauvet Professional Maverick MK1 Spot and 16 Maverick MK2

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UK - Allen & Heath has partnered with Cato Music to outfit Cato’s South West London rehearsal studios and production facilities with an extensive array of Allen & Heath products, from QU series consoles to the flagship dLive mixing system.
Cato Music, a Production Park company, offers an all-encompassing tour production service, from rehearsal studios (including full production), transport and crewing to equipment rental and tour supplies. Its initial involvement with Allen & Heath’s dLive series came at SXSW 2017, as general manager Ant Forbes explains: “We first became aware of dLive in the run-up to SXSW, where Cato Music runs the production and stage operation at the British Music Embassy, at downtown venue Latitude 30. We used two S7000 surfaces and one C1500 surface in the venue this year – with 75+ artists playing the stage over the course of the w
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