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UK - Since the long-running BBC Radio 1 Roadshow morphed into the One Big Weekend series of outdoor festival-style shows in 2000, the production values have progressively increased. With multiple stages and dozens of acts performing live, One Big Weekend is a far cry from Radio 1 Roadshows of yore - Smiley Miley and the Goodie Mobile it is not.

Thus, on 10 and 11 May this year, four separate stages and thousands of music fans descended on Mote Park, in the Kent county town of Maidstone, to enjoy a bill headlined by Madonna. But more true to the traditional Roadshow ethos was the Outdoor Stage, which featured a range of DJ performances and a large Turbosound Aspect PA system.

Headlined by Fatboy Slim and Zane Lowe respectively, the Saturday and Sunday bills o

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Congratulations to The Arcola Theatre in London's Hackney which has been nominated for a major national prize at The Charity Awards 2008, the UK charity sector's most prestigious award scheme. Chosen from a long list of entries, the theatre, which provides high calibre, accessible theatre and aims to become the world's first sustainable arts venue, has been shortlisted in the Animals and the environment category. It is hoping to pick up the coveted award at an awards ceremony in London on 19 June.

Best wishes to John Steven who has left Sennheiser UK. Having been director of marketing for the past eight years, he leaves to start and run his own company, John Steven PR. He will continue working with Sennheiser UK on a freelance basis on various special projects, including assisting general manager Phil Massey with the company's ongoing involvement with the National Film and Television S

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USA - The Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis has found two markets in the Twin Cities for its Robert Juliat Topaze and Manon followspots. The Theatre not only uses a trio of Topazes and a pair of Manons for its own dramatic and musical productions but also lends them to the Minnesota Opera during its season.

"I have been a theatrical technician for 10 years and have used a wide variety of followspots at venues all over the country," notes Owen Moldow, lead electrician at the Guthrie. "When I started working at the Guthrie Theater in 2007 I got to use Robert Juliat Topaze and Manon for the first time, and I was floored. I've never seen a followspot so bright or that had such nice action. They are incredibly easy to use and maintain; I never thought that I would actually look forward to using a followspot."

When the Guthrie isn't utilizing the followspots, it len

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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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Italy - Robe DigitalSpot 5000 DTs and 45 Robe ColorWash 575E AT moving lights were utilised by leading Italian TV lighting director/designer and DoP Pino Quini for the latest series of RAI 1's I Fuoriclasse (The Campion).

The popular programme, presented by maverick Italian TV personality Carlo Conti and produced by Magnolia Productions sees non-celebrity contestants from all types of backgrounds and careers compete to become singing stars. It is recorded at RAI's Studio De Paolis in Rome, and lighting equipment was supplied by Rome based rental house, DI & DI Lighting.

For I Fuoriclasse, the moving lights - over 200 in total, along with 300 white light sources, were all mounted on aluminium trussing that followed the lines of the eye-catching set, designed by Marco Calzavara. The ColorWash 575E ATs were rigged behind the set and used for colouring and texturing

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UK - The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army, at the British Museum in London, which featured a 360° projection system designed and installed by systems integrator Sysco, has won the prestigious Museums & Heritage 2008 Award for Temporary or Touring Exhibition.

The Awards were presented on 7 May at Church House in Westminster by journalist and broadcaster Simon Calder. The exhibition ran from September 2007 to April 2008, becoming the British Museum's most successful temporary exhibition for 30 years, with over 850,000 visitors.It featured the largest group of important objects relating to the First Emperor ever to be loaned abroad by the Museum of the Terracotta Army and the Cultural Relics Bureau of Shaanxi Province in Xi'an, China. It was housed in the Reading Room at the heart of the Museum which was temporarily converted by exhibition designers Metaphor in con

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UK - Speaking at the PLASA Annual General Meeting in London today, PLASA CEO Matthew Griffiths will call on the professional entertainment technology industry to support the new £15m National Skills Academy by donating £1m worth of lighting, sound, AV and staging equipment.

The National Skills Academy aims to significantly help to reduce skills gaps and shortages in backstage and off-stage skills. The NSA business plan, supported by PLASA and over 120 leading employers from theatre and live music, sets out in detail an ambitious vision to provide world-class training for the world's greatest stages. Working together with employers, freelancers, colleges and training-providers throughout the country, the NSA will deliver industry-endorsed training for young people and professionals. A proposed new state-of-the-art training facility in Thurrock, Thames Gateway, will pr

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UK - Peli Products has announced the acquisition of lighting manufacturer Blue i UK. This purchase will enable Peli Products to expand its presence in Europe, Middle East and Africa while continuing to develop new products and technologies, says the company.

The acquisition of Blue i complements Peli Products strategic vision to position the company as the pioneer in new lighting technology.

In 2003 the company launched Recoil LED technology. Now, through the acquisition of Blue i, Peli Products takes a further step towards the launch of its Advanced Area Lighting Group (AALG), a new line of products" bringing next generation Area Lighting Technology to market. The Advanced Area Lighting Group will drive primary R&D to bring portable, powerful, energy-efficient and environmentally responsible lighting technology to remote area applications.

"More than three decades

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UK - Kave Theatre Services, specialists in theatrical supplies and services, has increased their hire supply of ETC Source Four lanterns. Mark Larcombe, manager of Kave Hire Department, says: "We are delighted to have been able to increase our Source Four hire stock. We now have a selection of both 15°- 30° and 25° - 50° lanterns available. With over 60 Source Four luminaries in stock we are now proud to have the largest supply of these lanterns outside London, in the South East. We always listen to our customers and strive to connect them with the best products while offering great service and support. The Source Four is an excellent product and it is a lantern demanded by many in the entertainment industry. The addition of the Source Four will ensure we continue to meet the needs of our customers."

The new ETC Source Four lanterns wasted no time in Ka

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UK - Shuttlesound is promising to make an annual fixture out of its Big Day Out, a special one-day event for the UK's pro-audio industry professionals which showcased the technology of Electro-Voice, Midas and Klark-Teknik, alongside presentations from guest speakers from all aspects of the business.

More than 100 people turned up to the centrally-located Ricoh Arena in Coventry, including visitors from as far away as Belfast and Glasgow, Wigan and the West Country. Sean Maxwell's eight-person team from Shuttlesound was supported by an all-star cast of presenters including Bill Gelow, EV's head of engineering, Joseph Plager, EV's head of amplifier development, Alex Cooper, the director of console development for Midas, and Shuttlesound's own project design and support specialist David Howe.

With Midas' flagship XL8 digital console at front-of-house, there were demos of

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Belgium - Digital mixing console manufacturer InnovaSON has announced the appointment of Amptec as its new distribution partner in Belgium and Holland.

InnovaSON's international sales manager, Philippe Pelmelle comments, "Amptec has an excellent reputation. I heard from a number of independent sources that I couldn't hope to find a better distributor in Belgium, which is always reassuring to hear. They place a great deal of emphasis on providing a real service to the client, and not just on selling him the equipment."

Amptec CEO Bart Willems adds, "I'm looking forward to representing InnovaSON in Belgium and Holland. I like the concept behind their products, and I appreciate their pioneering attitude. We have a lot of experience in their target market and I'm sure that once we start getting the products in front of our customers, they will be very keen to try th

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USA - Wybron has promoted John Sondericker III to director of technologies.

For the past 12 years Sondericker has been Wybron's senior electronics/software engineer, helping design almost every product the company makes. Sondericker served as the chief architect of Infogate, the software at the heart of Wybron's Infotrace system, which uses the Remote Device Management two-way communication protocol to let users remotely manage and address their lighting rigs.

In his new role at Wybron, Sondericker will help the company stay abreast of new developments in the lighting industry, including the continued emphasis on two-way communication protocols such as RDM and ACN (Architecture for Control Networks).

"Our industry is evolving at a remarkable rate. Lighting systems are becoming more and more complex every day," Sondericker said. "I'm grateful for the opportunit

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UK - Litestructures has expanded its UK design force with the recruitment of sales design engineer Patrick Lockwood.

Lockwood has a proven track record within the industry; he started his career 18 years ago as a qualified welder/fabricator within James Thomas Engineering. He then progressed on to the export sales and project teams where he managed many concert, theatre and design projects from initial enquiry through to final completion. Moving on as a sales engineer, he then joined Tomcat UK for four years.

Lee Brooks, sales director comments: "It's not everyday that you get the opportunity to recruit someone with Patrick's track record and extensive experience. His ingrained knowledge of both engineering principles and our industry brings great value to Litestructures, and strengthens our technical team to allow us to continue improving both our products and our level

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Spain - D.A.S. Artec sound systems have become part of the standard equipment of the Karting Indoor Formula 0. This sports amusement centre is located on the outskirts of Madrid and is part of the commercial and entertainment complex Madrid Xanadú.

For this sound installation, MSB Audio Madrid recommended the installation of six D.A.S. Artec 28 systems. "Taking into consideration the size of the complex and its peculiarities as to sound reverberation, they prove to be very efficient systems," comments Manuel Suarez, MSB audio director.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - XTA has considerably expanded its global distribution network, recently appointing distributors in no less than six countries - Argentina, Hungary, Iceland, Mexico, Poland, and Portugal.

With XTA enjoying considerable success in the Central and South American markets, it makes commercial sense for the company to expand its representation in the region, which has been achieved by the appointment of DA Professional SRL in Argentina and Audioacustica y Electronica in Mexico, says the company.

"We provide total production solutions, combining our expert personnel and only the very highest quality equipment," says Audioacustica y Electronica's Javier Posada. "The company was founded because of a need in Mexico for a supplier whose equipment portfolio and experience allows them to plan, coordinate and execute all technical aspects of a production. XTA is the idea

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USA - When Bally Total Fitness wanted to install CD players in its clubs nationwide that would hold up under near-constant use, systems integrator No Static Pro Audio recommended the DN-C615 CD Player from Denon Professional.

Over the past three years, No Static has installed over 120 DN-C615 decks in Bally facilities throughout Southern California and sold an additional 139 DN-C615 decks in that time period to other Bally facilities across the country.

"The DN-C615 is absolutely bulletproof," says Dave Meek, president No Static, a Burbank-based full-service systems integrator that will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year. "Bally facilities will often install multiple DN-C615 units in one club, putting them in Group Exercise Rooms and Spin Rooms. Whenever the design calls for a CD player, we use the DN-C615 exclusively."

(Jim Evans)

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Serbia - For the third consecutive year Stage One was brought in to build the set for the Eurovision Song Contest, held this year in Belgrade. Stage One was asked to construct all the stage and scenic elements by Morten Carlsson, MD of Procon Event Engineering, who were awarded the contract to realise the entire project.

One of the key challenges that both Stage One and their client faced was that they were brought on board quite late. Final detailed drawings were only received just six weeks before the load date. "The construction of such an impressive, but quite complicated structure, in this short time scale was always going to be a challenge," said Steve Dolan, account director, Stage One.

He continued, "We resolved the time issues by completing some of the work required on-site and delivered a set of the highest quality."

The city of Belgrade lies at

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UK - Sennheiser UK is on board supporting Earthrace, the eco-boat currently attempting to break the round-the-world speed record. Sennheiser supplied Earthrace with PXC 450 noise cancelling headphones, plus two HMEC 450 aviation headsets for navigation communications.

"We're delighted Sennheiser is supporting us," says Earthrace captain Pete Bethune. "This project wouldn't have been able to happen without their support and their contribution is vital to the overall goal of showing the world that the best technology can also be sustainable.

"We and the ground crew appreciate the fantastic support we have received. Every supportive company's efforts count in our race to beat the world record."

Sennheiser UK general manager Phil Massey adds, "It is great that we have been able to help such a worthwhile attempt by supplying Pete and his crew with th

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UK - 5 Star Cases will be exhibiting its usual varied range of products at the show. On display will be the Static Rack and Rack in a Box systems which have recently undergone a facelift by additional strengthening by means of external braces. These braces are now a visual feature of all plywood inner sleeves and offer not only added durability but an enhanced appearance.

5 Star will also be showing the popular Eurotrucker general purpose road trunk which itself has undergone a make-over.

Laptop computers feature extensively in the entertainment industry and with this in mind, the new Laptop Cases will also be shown. Available in two distinctly different versions, these carry cases offer "the ultimate in protection and transportability for today's high-tech equipment". A selection of other specialist and standard cases as well as foam inserts will also be displayed.<

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New Zealand - The City Impact Church in Auckland recently installed an Adamson SpekTrix Line Array System in the main Sanctuary of its new building.

City Impact recently embarked on a project to build a state-of-the-art auditorium that would set a new benchmark for worship venues.

Ian Anderson of Mitech Consulting was engaged as the primary technical and production consultant for the job. Under his direction Scott Willsallen of Auditoria mastered the audio design and Mark Hansen of Hansen and Associates was responsible for the architectural and acoustic design of the performance space.

Capable of holding up to 2,000 people, the Sanctuary needed to produce a powerful sound with excellent vocal clarity and accurate musical reproduction, despite the significant problem of reflective surfaces that existed on both the sides and the rear of the room. Extensive acoustic treatment w

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Germany - Meyer Sound Germany has announced the appointment of Peter Schädel to the position of marketing coordinator.

Since joining Meyer Sound Germany as a sales manager a few months ago, Schädel has established himself as a key member of the sales and marketing team, says the company.

Dave Wiggins, director of marketing, Europe, says, "Meyer Sound's extraordinary sales growth in Europe over the past few years has prompted the continuing investment in marketing support. As the company moves into new markets and expands our efforts to specific geographical territories, the need for innovative marketing has also increased. Peter's skill set is ideally suited to a marketing environment and is invaluable to the team."

(Jim Evans)

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USA - The new 250,000sq.ft home of the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue was well received when it opened on 11 April. Located in Washington, D.C., adjacent to the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall, the Newseum features seven levels of galleries, theatres, and event spaces that blend news history with cutting-edge technology and hands-on exhibits. Besides offering museum-goers a behind the scenes look at how and why news is made, they also produce and broadcast in their own television studios.

The main funder of the operations of the Newseum is The Freedom Forum, a non-partisan foundation. Jim Updike, vice president of technology for the Freedom Forum and for the Newseum, points out, "doing the outside news broadcasts and programmes from here is an important part of our mission. We have done any number of television shows here from network newscasts all the way to our o

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