UK - London-based live brand experiential innovators exposure - collaborating with their LA office - designed and creatively directed Sony Computer Europe Entertainment's (SCEE) presentation event at E3 held at the LA Convention Centre. SCEE took the opportunity of unveiling 27 new titles for the forthcoming year on PSP (PlayStation Portable) and PlayStation 2 at the show. They also engaged the public in the first previews of the much-anticipated PlayStation 3, scheduled for release in November, along with nine new gaming titles for this console.

The London based team were led by Production Director Alison Berkani and included designer Matt Gates. exposure Live regularly produces events for SCEE. The brief involved the creation of a complete lively interactive environment speciall

UK - Matthew Delaney has been appointed as the new sales manager at PSCo, helping to lead the team in driving forward their sales and business development activities. PSCo, a specialist in AV rental and advanced product sales, is the UK distributor of the 'nfinite plasma, 84" plasma and award winning Fogscreen. Matthew Delaney joins the team as sales manager to look after both field and office-based staff.

Matthew's extensive AV background includes working with Reflex and Steljes alike, where he gained extensive distributor and reseller experience. With a huge knowledge of system integration and technical detail at both distributor and user level, he will be a great asset to PSCo's team, say the company.

Delaney explained: "I am looking forward to working with the PSCo team as they are a company focussed on new technologies and advancing the industry with fresh ideas

Middel East - Klotz Digital AG, the inventor of audio and control networking solutions for the audio and media industry, announced today that it has joined forces with CG Group Dubai, a well-known distributor of integrated high-tech solutions in the Middle East.

CG Group Dubai will with immediate effect offer service and support and sell Klotz Digital's complete product range, including Varizone - the digital Public Address and Voice Evacuation System as well as Klotz Digital's wide range of mixing consoles and audio routers for the Broadcast Industry in GCC countries, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

"This strategic alliance provides tremendous opportunities for both companies. It will facilitate us to expand and ensure our market presence in this region, while CG Group seized the chance to round off its product range for the security market and breaks into the promising

featured content

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

New Zealand / UK -Selecon will unveil its latest developments in followspot technology at the forthcoming ABTT show in London, with products which the company claims will set new standards in followspot performance. The Selecon Performer Series, which the company says is developed from market and operator demands, features light output that is 2-3 times that of current 1.2kW and 2.5kW MSR/HMI followspots, an extensive control suite, full length body guide rails and is cool to operate. The unit is powered from a domestic socket. The range includes the Tahi followspot (18°-24°: 18° = 1000lux at 43m; 24° = 1000lux at 30m) and the Rua followspot (9°-16°: 9° = 1000lux at 56m; 16° = 1000lux at 34m).

Also new from Selecon and on display at ABTT will be the new Rama range of Fresnels and PCs which, the company says, "deliver precision focus saving t

UK - Dartford's Orchard Theatre is a well-established venue in one of the most heavily populated areas of England. From orchestras to tribute bands, comedy to lectures, plays to pantomimes, the Orchard attracts a diverse audience from a wide catchment area throughout south and east London, Kent and Essex.

When the theatre wanted to upgrade the audio system of its Circle Bar, the speakers needed to be able to broadcast a diversity of content with uniform high quality. So specialist AV installers Whitwam turned to Turbosound. "The Circle Bar is designed for use as a stand alone meeting / seminar space and for holding varying workshops and small shows. At those times the speakers need to deliver standalone high quality foreground music and sound reinforcement," says Whitwam's senior engineer, Andy Pymm. "When the bar isn't being used as a separate area, the speakers

UK - XL Video was commissioned by Jeff Allen at Sensible Music to supply video projection to Joan Collins' first UK theatre tour - An Evening with Joan Collins. Video designer Oliver Sones, in collaboration with the show's director Percy Gibson, was asked to produce original content for the 75-minute show, which features video and stills running throughout.

In an intimate monologue performance, Collins recalls autobiographical elements and details of her legendary career, which spans five decades as actress, author, entrepreneur and accomplished producer. XL supplied two Barco SLM G8 projectors, and a 16 x 12ft rear projection screen, hung in portrait 4:3 aspect ratio. The projectors and screen were set up each day by tour manager Claude Taylor who remarks that it was a very quick, easy and reliable system to deal with, and proved perfectly adaptable for even the smaller

Germany - After decades of experience in designing power amps for the international touring business, Electro-Voice has introduced its Tour Grade amplifiers. The models TG7 and TG5 are state-of-the-art power amplifiers based on three-stage class H Grounded Bridge design and intelligent switching power supply technology, say the company. In only a 2U housing with less than 15kg weight, they provide astounding 2 x 3500W (TG7) and 2 x 1900W (TG5). Both models incorporate micro controllers and illuminated LCD displays for user configuration. The Tour Grade power amplifiers also provide slots for IRIS-NetTM DSP module such as the new RCM-26 to allow transparent network control and supervision.

(Lee Baldock)

UK - Adlib Audio supplied a powerful sound system whilst sister company Adlib Lighting supplied the illumination for cult New York rockers, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, on their recent whirlwind UK tour. The three back-to-back dates - Glasgow Barrowlands plus Manchester and Birmingham Academies - are all gigs that Adlib know really well, explained FOH babysitter and systems tech Steve Pattison. This helped enormously in terms of familiarity with the sonic parameters they knew would work - with no production rehearsals, a good knowledge of the rooms was a Godsend.

Adlib's ability to offer a combined sound and lighting package won them the business, as it meant that the band's production manager, Roger Carne, only had to deal with one company for all technical requirements, while Adlib could offer good value and the same streamlined service for both departments.

They chose a Nexo Alpha

The Netherlands - Three Soundcraft mixing desks have been specified and installed in a new, purpose-built concert venue in Eindhoven. Designed by architects MVRDV and developed by Ove Arup & Partners at a cost of €6.9m, the highly-designed De Effenaar replaces the former single-room venue on the same site that has been demolished to make way.

Trading on two floors, the complex incorporates a café/restaurant, a large concert venue (for 1200 people), a secondary 400-capacity room (with balcony) and a small studio theatre.De Effenaar, which has quickly become one of the most significant 'circuit' venues in the south of Holland, selected 40- and 32-channel Soundcraft MH3 dual-mode consoles for use in the FOH and foldback positions of the smaller venue, and a 48-channel SM20 for monitor duties in the large concert space.

With theatre specialists Prinssen en Bus providing th

Switzerland - Bandit Lites continued its ongoing relationship with Lotus Cars at the Geneva Motor Show, supplying lighting design and production for their stand which included the launch of the new Lotus Europa S. The exhibition was held in the massive Palexpo Centre and it was the first automotive trade show at which Bandit UK has worked with Lotus, following on from a steady run of showroom work around the UK.

Lighting designer Mark Powell was asked to make the stand look dynamic, dramatic and cutting edge with the lighting - reflecting the profile of the show and the launch of the new model. The 'essence' of the lighting also had to highlight Lotus's sleek, high value brand image, and reflect the Lotus S's design philosophy of achieving performance through "added lightness".

The stand clean open lines of the stand were designed by Omni's. It featured the main care

Mexico - MC2 has appointed Hi Tech Audio as its distributor for Mexico. Based in Tlalpan, on the southern edge of Mexico City, the company specialises in a wide range of leading professional audio brands including DiGiCo, Yamaha and HK Audio. The company needed a range of high quality amplifiers to complement its other products and MC2 amplifiers are the ideal choice.

"We are very excited to have been appointed the MC2 distributor for Mexico," says Hi Tech Audio's Antonio Martínez Benita. "Our company specialises in high quality brands and MC2 is the perfect addition to our portfolio."

MC2's Ian McCarthy adds: "The pro audio market in Mexico is expanding rapidly, as witnessed by the number of leading brands that are regularly seen on the country's productions. We are very pleased that our products will now be helping to provide the high quality audio

Australia - Situated on Sydney's Darling Harbour, Australia's leading superclub, Home, plays host to some of the world's most respected DJs and has recently branched into live music. A key component of this move was a technical refit, which included the installation of a state of the art audio system comprising exclusively Allen & Heath mixers, and a 16-cabinet JBL line-array.

"I have a passion for both live and club music and I am very excited by the emerging genre that combines elements of both," comments Simon Page, owner of Home. "We had very clear demands from both local and international artists to choose Allen & Heath DJ consoles, so it was an easy step for us to go with Allen & Heath for the live requirements as well."

The club is on three levels, with a maximum capacity close to 2500. There are four function rooms, outdoor balconies, numerous bars,

UK - 2006 saw the launch of a brand new large scale music festival in South Wales: held over two days in Ynys Angharad Park in Pontypridd, The Full Ponty featured live performances from top bands such as Feeder, Funeral for a Friend and Goldy Lookin Chain. Freelance lighting designer Tim Routledge was approached by Pop Factory Events to design a contemporary, rich look for this event that was to be not only suitable for a live but also a TV audience as the event was being recorded for broadcast on BBC2 Wales. The stage was also to be turned around for a more theatrical event to celebrate 150 years of the Welsh National anthem for BBC 1 Wales.

"Emyr Afan, the director, and myself really didn't want to wash the stage out and lose the effect of the rock looks onstage especially as we had a great blackout in the huge kayam structure," said Routledge. "In order to achi

UK - "This is a first for the band," said John Tinline of Encore. "For the first time ever this is not going to be a synth' show - Erasure will all use real musical instruments." Encore has been providing sound services to Erasure for the last few years so Tinline should know. "Funny thing is, as the band go analog we've gone completely digital. Once the signal goes into the stage box it stays digital right through the desk and out into the d&b audiotechnik D12 amplifiers."

The musical switch has brought some controversial changes "The band are playing a Country & Western style show; they've re-written, and re-arranged every song," said Tinline. Erasure's front-of-house engineer was a little more circumspect: "All the songs are recognisable but completely different as you would imagine, being acoustic now," said Matt West. "

UK - Lighting designer Esteban Caracciolo specified an Avolites Diamond 4 for his latest UK and European tour with the punky energetic US rockers, Fall Out Boy. Caracciolo has always used Avo consoles, and during FOB's latest US shed and arena leg of the tour - just previous to them hitting Europe this time around - he was using two D4 Elites - supplied by Upstaging.

FOB's set can be as random as it is powerful, there is rarely a set list, and much of the show has to be improvisational, 'live' and hands on - making Avolites the ideal choice of console for the environment. "I have everything right there on the faders, ready to grab whenever I need it," he says.

He adds that in the US, the doors are often open at 5.30pm, curtailing the working day and reducing afternoon programming time, so here again, the D4's quick, simple patching and programming functionality is a

UK - Lighting Partners, the company behind the hugely successful usedlighting.co.uk website will be exhibiting for the first time at this years ABTT Theatre Show in London. The stand, which will be located in the Lindley Hall (Stand 22) will feature a wide selection of the equipment featured on usedlighting.co.uk plus some exciting new budget lines from its sister site stagelighting.co.uk.

Throughout the show the company will be making special offers, including the chance for visitors to buy a wingnut spanner to take away. "The backdrop to our stand, designed for Lighting Partners by South London artist and designer Fuel, features an intergalactic battle you'd never see in Star Wars!" say the company.

(Lee Baldock)

India - The NSE Exhibition Complex (formerly the Bombay Exhibition Centre) in Mumbai has been announced as the venue for the first PALA / Install India exhibition, in a switch from the originally announced Andheri Sports Complex. This move has been prompted by a greater than anticipated interest by international and regional exhibitors, and a consequent increase in the projected number of expected visitors, say organisers IIR.

PALA India will be held from 5-7 October 2006 in Mumbai, the event is based on the successful model of the PALME exhibition in Dubai aimed specifically at the events, entertainment and installation technology sectors. The show will also see the introduction of the hugely popular Install brand into the Indian market - a dedicated vertical show aimed specifically at the commercial and residential installation and integration markets. The three day show will

USA - High End Systems has launched ArenaView, a complete turnkey multimedia presentation package for large-scale events. HES recently demonstrated the system at the American Airlines Center to open the first round of the NBA playoffs for the Dallas Mavericks and the NHL playoffs for the Dallas Stars.

HES executive vice-president Bill Morris says: "ArenaView allows venues to not only use the entire venue as a creative palette, but as a source of creative revenue for sporting events, concerts, corporate events - any event that needs a large venue to hold it."

The ArenaView package, says HES, transforms an arena or any other large space into a visual showcase by incorporating a high-output, high-resolution (12,000, 16,000, or 20,000 ANSI lumens) Christie projector with the HES mirror-based moving Orbital Head; an HES Catalyst Media Server, pre-loaded with digital conte

UK - Channel Four's new flagship chat show, which takes over from Richard and Judy for six months of the year, is the highly entertaining Paul O'Grady Show. Paul O'Grady is famous for his larger-than-life colourful personality, something that is also reflected in the lighting used on the show.

Dave Davey has been lighting Paul O'Grady for two series now and has chosen to use 900mm Pulsar Chroma Strips to illuminate the 18m x 2m high columns. With 90° beam angle the Chroma Strips provide a multitude of colours, which can be easily controlled with a Chroma Zone. The Chroma Strip is an ideal architectural lighting fixture to use for the columns on the set.

Dave has also chosen to use the Mac 500 for the show. The Mac 500 is a durable and reliable industry standard profile. The silent fan cooling is ideal for a show like Paul O'Grady where the requirement to reduce lighting no

UK - ESP Lighting, a division of ESP Production, has invested in a Jands Vista T2 lighting console. The company provides a complete production service for a wide range of shows ranging from one-off corporate and music events to theatre tours and concerts: Paul Bellucci, who runs the lighting and staging side of the company, first saw the Vista demonstrated at PLASA. Having been a JANDS owner/user for several years, from an Event through to a Jands Hog 250 and Hog 1000, but for the last year had been looking for something new.

In February, Paul decided to get out of his 'comfort zone' so together with Tom, a younger member of the lighting team, took a day's training at A.C. Lighting and came away with a Vista T2. The console's first outing was for The Nth Fest, a groundbreaking twelve hour Christian Rock Festival featuring over 30 bands.

Prior to the Festival, Paul and Tom fami

UAE - The Emirates Palace Hotel, recently built on the beach of the Gulf of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, shows off the beauty of Arab culture, combining traditional themes and reflecting the national identity of this affluent country.

Majestic, impressive, covering an area of 1 million square metres and surrounded by a beautiful garden and lawns, the Emirates Palace Hotel has a unique and multi-faceted structure, with façades reproducing the different nuances of colour of the sand in the Arabian desert.

The palace is an architectural marvel and an international landmark, with some 114 domes, all of which are covered with glass mosaic tiles. Designed taking every tiniest detail into consideration, capable of offering an unrivalled quality of service, this building has been created with the aim of whisking its guests away into the world of aristocracy, where every wi

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