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USA - Minnesota's celebrated Vikings team can be found down the road in Mankato, home to the University of Minnesota and the stadium and grounds the team calls their pre-season home. Vikings fans are known for their loyalty, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by the Vikings organization. In recent years the team's management has created and encouraged a family-friendly atmosphere at the training camp, sponsoring kick-off parties, shows and local events throughout the three weeks the team is in town.

One of the most fan-friendly features at the Mankato facility is Vikings Village, the product of a partnership between the Vikings organization, training camp organizers and corporate sponsor Midwest Wireless. Even when the team isn't practicing, fans are treated to a variety of entert

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UK - Lighting designer Dan Hardiman upped the creative ante on the UK arena section of UB40's current ongoing world tour by also taking on the role of video director, directing and mixing a full manned-camera IMAG system and a substantial lighting rig ..... all via the lighting desk.

The piece of kit that enabled him to do this was D-Tek Industries' ingenious D-Mix Pro - a small 1U 'black box' device offering huge flexibility, plug-and-play simplicity and easy setup and operation.

The D-Mix Pro opens up new opportunities for small-to-medium sized tours to incorporate video very cost-effectively into their show, with no extra crew required. The operator can programme and sequence video mixes via any DMX user-interface, just as they would a moving light or other intelligent device. D-Mix Pro offers a truly integrated show control option, for one creative director to produce seam

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Norway - In medieval times, pilgrims heading to Nidaros Cathedral passed through the town of Lommedalen, nestled in a Norwegian valley only 15 kilometers from Oslo. In many ways, the town appears unchanged by the passage of time until you step inside the Lommedalen Church, where the town's 3,000 residents worship. In contrast to the town's old-style charm, the church resides decidedly in the 21st century as the result of the installation of a new Meyer Sound M1D ultra-compact curvilinear array loudspeaker system.

The church serves as a spiritual and cultural centre for the town. Its acoustics have proven ideal for both traditionally styled worship services and non-amplified events such as classical music concerts. However, as younger members brought more amplified music sensibilities from their culture into the church, the shortcomings of the building's original sound system bec

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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 - 3M will demonstrate the latest additions to its range of screen products and technologies for the retail, point-of-sale, point-of-information, multimedia and self-service kiosk markets on stand F19 at Screen Expo Europe 2006 (1-2 February, Earls Court 2, London). Among the new products will be new rear projection display screen technology which the company says is "set to change the perception of projection screen viewing".

The XRVS rear projection display screens will offer innovative ways of communicating high-impact visual information to target audiences in countless applications, including car showrooms, conference rooms, exhibition floors and shop fronts, say 3M. Available in sizes up to 95" diagonal, XRVS is "far more eye-catching than traditional front or rear projection screens and offers a flexible, lightweight and cost-effective alternative to

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New Zealand - The Harman Pro Group reports that The Edge, at the Aotea Centre in Auckland, will become New Zealand's first Harman HiQnet installation. The HiQnet system, featuring BSS and Crown components, will form the foundation of the new paging and background music system for The Edge, the largest performing arts and convention centre of its kind in New Zealand, say the company.

"The Harman Pro Group developed HiQnet as a universal technology for any application or configuration," said Mark Terry, Harman Pro Group president. "Focusing on network control and connectivity, HiQnet enables systems integrators to design more intuitive, more efficient audio systems for any type of facility. The Edge at Aotea Centre is a prime example, uniting multiple zones on multiple floors under a singular control platform."

The Edge features five performing arts houses -

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UK / UAE - Hull-based Computer DJ Ltd has announced a partnership with a major distribution company in the United Arab Emirates. Zio Technologies LLC, based in Dubai, will be exhibiting Computer DJ's Q-Play systems at the PALME trade show (23-25 April 2006, Dubai) - the Middle East's showcase for entertainment technology.

Shaun Minns of Computer DJ told LSI Online that the deal was struck with Zio Technologies as a result of a contact made at the PLASA Show in September.

(Lee Baldock)

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USA - Flying Pig Systems' Hog iPC made its Broadway debut with the recent opening of The Color Purple - The Musical. It's got another Broadway-bound show waiting in the wings - the Elton John/Bernie Taupin musical, Lestat, currently playing in San Francisco but moving to Broadway in March.

Both shows were programmed by David Arch, who coincidentally programmed the first Wholehog 2 console on Broadway in 1997 for the stage show, The Life (an honour he shares with Christian Choi). He says: "I choose Hog iPC for a few reasons. The shows were over four universes but under eight which meant no slow down in iPC processing speed. Because the Hog iPC is a new product, it's fully supported. Its compact size is great for small Broadway control booths. Plus, when it comes to viewing a lot of information quickly and easily the Hog contents screen is still one of th

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UK - Stage One, a leading player in the field of set construction and interpretation, was recently brought on board by production agency TRO to help Saab Great Britain with the imaginative promotion of the new flagship Saab 9-5 car.

Taking the form of a Day One Teaser followed by a Day Two Reveal, Stage One transformed a sea container for a series of events (detailed below) by painting it matt black, manufacturing four small stainless steel barred windows of varying size and providing a timed sound and light programme from within the container, triggered by sensors. The company also produced a number of graphics to be placed on the side of the container.

On the Day One 'teaser' the only graphic on display on the sides and doors said, 'www.95unleashed.co.uk' - and from a distance, passers-by could see flashing orange and red lights and strobe welding-effect lights. They could a

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UK - The Technical and Production Arts (TPA) department at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) in Glasgow will hold its Graduate Exhibition and Trade Show on 22-23 March 2006.

The exhibition, held in the Academy's Chandler Studio Theatre, offers an ideal opportunity to view the work of students graduating from the RSAMD's BA Technical and Productions Arts Course. Many previous graduates have gone on to use their creative and technical skills to enhance projects and venues worldwide, including the English National Opera, the Sage Gateshead, Royal Caribbean, Cirque du Soleil, Scottish Opera and the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow.

Running alongside the exhibition is an industry trade show, held in the New Athenaeum Theatre, where sponsors of the TPA course display a wide range of innovative products and services. A number of companies have already committed to the ev

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USA - Jeff Pelzl, VP of Worldwide Service for Texas-based lighting manufacturer High End Systems Inc, has been promoted to assume responsibility for worldwide sales, along with his current service role. Pelzl takes on the position held by Bill Morris, who will leave HES in late January. For the past 16 years, Pelzl has been supporting High End's customer base and is a familiar face and name to the entire industry.

HES CEO Frank Gordon commented, "Jeff is a natural for this job. He knows our technology, he knows the industry, but most importantly he knows our customers. For years, he has been an advocate for the customer and runs a very tight organization in terms of customer responsiveness."

Richard Belliveau, HES co-founder and CTO, added: "Jeff brings a great deal to this sales role in terms of understanding the core of the customer business. He also understan

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UK - Hawthorn Theatrical has specified Martin Audio's AQ speakers exclusively in its design model for some of the new City Academy venues. According to the company's installation manager Simon Ling, the existing buildings are being replaced at a cost of around £25m a time, assisted by external funding. Hawthorn Theatrical will provide a full technical infrastructure, consisting of sound, light, projection and control.

The most recently-commissioned system was at Northampton Academy, which has been designed around four spaces - the main assembly hall, two drama studios and a dance studio. "We have got to know the Martin Audio catalogue well and know what the product can do," says Ling, adding that the enclosures complement Hawthorn's large hire inventory of Martin Audio loudspeakers. "Not only does it provide a highly flexible solution, but the AQ boxes are r

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South Africa - When it came time to choose a new sound system for their church, worship leaders at Bryanston New Covenant Church in suburban Johannesburg, South Africa, recognized it was more appropriate to apply healthy skepticism than to proceed on faith. Rather than take marketing claims at face value, the church auditioned all three of their top contenders in their 1,200-seat worship centre. When the last word was spoken, it was in favour of a system of Meyer Sound M1D ultra-compact curvilinear array loudspeakers.

"We initially supplied the M1D system on a hire basis," recalls Lee Thomson of Prosound Pty Ltd of Johannesburg, Meyer Sound's South African distributor. "We rigged it up for a weekend of services, and for a special concert later that week by the well-known British songwriter and worship leader, Matt Redman. What the church leadership heard clearly t

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UK - PRG Europe once again worked with lighting designer Durham Marenghi to produce a spectacular light show on the London Eye on New Year's Eve. They put 100 VL5 Arcs on a pontoon at the base of the eye, shining them onto the giant wheel. The main lighting contractor for the event was Stage Electrics.

"Before midnight, the lighting on the Eye was set to the five colours of the Olympic rings, to show support for London winning the games in 2012," explains Marenghi. "Then, on each of the 12 chimes from Big Ben, three brilliant white Lightning Strikes fired a strobe-like effect on the wheel, following which a 10-minute fireworks display entertained the massive crowd. The lights were set to be coloured in sympathy with the display, which was kept low in the night sky so that TV cameras could see the wheel and surrounding architecture as well as the fireworks themselv

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UK - Former OpTex employees Phil Barker, Simon Beer, Edward Catton-Orr andSteve Graham have formed a new UK based company supplying broadcast and professional production equipment. The sales operation is based on the North London / Hertfordshire borders in Potters Bar, with offices less than five minutes from the M25 motorway.

The team who have previously worked together have so far secured distributorships with several major manufacturers. Marketing Director, Simon Beer said: "For a long time we have worked well together, we share the same values and want more than anything else to give our customers hassle-free, old-school customer service whilst still being able to offer the keenest prices. Production Gear is supplying a wide range of products, basically if it goes on or near a camera then we sell it.

"Our team brings a combined total of over 65 years experience o

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Malta - Denon Professional have taken major strides towards dominating the dance-heavy island of Malta, by appointing Futuretech as their distributors.

Denon's parent company D&M Professional Europe confirmed the exclusive agreement with Stefan Farrugia's company at September's PLASA Show after the importer had placed an order for a quantity of professional CD players.

Futuretech have wasted no time in introducing the new DN-S3500 to some of the island's leading DJ's, such as house specialist Carl Bee, Darren Vandit, DJ J Joy and Stefan's brother Josef.

Joy has immediately been signed up to a two-year sponsorship with Denon, initiating the S3500 decks during a four-hour Christmas Eve marathon, Joy Xmas, at Tattinger's Club in Rabat.

"I decided to choose J Joy cause he is the leading DJ in Malta and at the same time a real showman who draws a great crowd,"

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Russia - Soundcraft consoles have been providing the mixing hub of a number of new entertainment venues in Moscow and the outlying areas, over the past few months. They form part of Harman Pro entertainment packages provided by distributors, Mega Music.

One of these is Terminal - the best discotheque in the region of Cherepovetz, which has a population of 320,000 people. Mega Music installed all the audio and lighting equipment, incorporating a BSS FDS-366 Omnidrive Compact Plus to process a loudspeaker system consisting of six JBL ASB6128 and eight ASB6212 enclosures, powered by Crown CTs amplification. With the provision of a Soundcraft GB4 mixing console.

In Moscow, Asia Casino is proving to be one of the best high-end casinos in the Russian capital. This venue boasts a luxurious oriental-style interior, with an audio system installed by Senzar, Mega Music's long time partn

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Denmark - Denmark's Radio recently promoted The Denmarks Radio Philharmonic Orchestra at the Castle Ledreborg, with music from Lord of the Rings, Phantom of the Opera and Danish artists Nanna, Anne Linnet and Sebastian.

The house sound was mixed on a Digidesign Venue by Henrik Bonné, and he could scarcely have enjoyed the experience more. "This desk includes the best offline software, best automation (for music and events), and best sound of any of the big live mixing consoles I have come across," he remarked. "And the opportunity to work with Digidesign's plug-ins has really made an impact on me."

Such is the simplicity of the desk that he has decided to run his next show without any outboard effects whatsoever. "Focusrite plugins on the vocals, Smack! and Purple Audio/Bomb Factory on the bass, drums and brass ... it just works!" sa

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USA - Long-standing V-Dosc and dV-Dosc Network Partner Clearwing Productions, Inc of West Allis, Wisconsin, has recently purchased 16 L-Acoustics 115XT HiQ monitor wedges. According to Clearwing Audio operations manager Brian 'BK' Koerner, the company chose to add the 115XT HiQs after renting a quantity for a month-long outing with the Steve Miller Band.

"Steve is one of those guys who only lets you know when something isn't right," says Koerner. "For the first few dates of his tour we were using some other wedges that we had in-house, but we were having some difficulties with them. So we switched out mid-stride with these HiQs and Steve barely even looked at the monitor guys from then on. The monitor engineer and tech were both just in awe of the difference the HiQs made."

Koerner says he is equally impressed with the 115XT HiQ's sonic performance. "T

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UK - Star Events Group reports that Phil Broad, winner of several Rigger of the Year awards, is to relinquish his shares in Star Events Group and revert to self-employed status with immediate effect.

Broad was one of the founding partners of Star Rigging, which subsequently merged with Star Hire to form Star Events Group Ltd in 2003. Since then, he has been trying to balance the constant demand for his services at gigs with the increasing responsibility that came from running a division of the expanding Star Events Group. As there are not enough hours in the day to do both, he has opted to go back to working independently on his own projects, the company says.

Maddy Sheals, HR director for Star Events Group, told us: "It is clearly easier to find someone to manage a division of the company than to find another Phil Broad, and we'll be looking for a suitable manager in due

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Germany - Digidesign's Venue digital mixing system made its first public appearance at a Royal Albert Hall Classical Spectacular last year with the event's long-serving sound engineer, Simon Honywill. Now, the Raymond Gubbay-promoted European tour of Switzerland and Germany should again see a Venue accompany the Classical Spectacular show with its inventory of lasers, fireworks and thundering cannons and muskets that make these events so special.

Honywill took a 96-input desk - using 93 of the available channels for mixing the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and for special effects playbacks. "I have used all the digital desks in the marketplace, and I'd say they are all good," he reports. "The difference with the Venue is that it is really good. There's something about it . . . it is really the sweetest sounding, most easy to use desk, and it feels ni

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UK - A new £3.5m development project in Aberdeen has been equipped with a multizone Martin Audio/QSC sound reinforcement package, specified by contractors Absolute Audio Systems, as well as a dynamic automated lighting system supplied by Difuzion - the lighting arm of Fuzion plc, UK distributors for the Futurelight range.

The exclusive club, bar and restaurant is housed in a three-storey 19th century granite building, which has been sensitively converted by Edinburgh-based architects/designers Kerr Blyth Associates (KBA). The result is 'The Albyn', which provides Aberdeen-based owners, European Development Company (EDC), with the jewel in their leisure crown.

Working with architectural technicians Canale Associates, KBA designed a two-storey extension to the rear of the property to incorporate the bar, restaurant and entertainment area, featuring a grand piano, acoustica

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