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UK - Zero 88 has announced the winners of its LightFactory competition, which was held on each day of PLASA08.

On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday visitors who came to the stand to see the product were entered into a free draw with the chance of winning a 1 Universe LightFactory package.

The winners were Nick Cooke of German LED manufacturer Schnick Schnack, Swedish lighting designer Johan Friberg and Danilo Pedros from Italian Lighting company DTS.

On the final day, the prize draw not only included a 1 Universe LightFactory package but also the new Programming and Playback wings launched at the show. Ismael Portelli from Nexos Lighting Technology in Malta was the lucky recipient of this prize.

(Jim Evans)

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Ireland - Over 200 Robe units were used site-wide at the 2008 Electric Picnic Arts & Music Festival, supplied by leading Irish lighting rental company Just Lite, who lit all 15 performance stages at the event.

Set in the picturesque environs of Stradbally Hall, County Laois, the festival was presented by Pod Concerts & Aiken Promotions. Liam McCarthy, who also stage-managed the main stage, designed lighting for all stages.

The designs were based on the need to accommodate the requirements of the headlining acts along with any specials packages, also providing a dynamic 'house' rig for everyone's shows. McCarthy comments: "Robe is an excellent moving light for events like this - they are mega bright, reliable and stand up well to the unpredictable weather."

There were five main music stages including the Main Open Air Stage, The Electric Arena, Crawdaddy, The Little

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UK - HSL once again supplied lighting for the main stage at Bestival on the Isle of Wight which muddily concluded the 2008 UK festival season, as Britain was lashed by storms, high winds and torrential rain causing widespread chaos.

HSL has been involved with Bestival since its inception in 2004. Once again its team, led on site by Rory MacKay and in the office by Mike Oates, worked closely with site and event production managers John Gray and Lee Charteris, and producer Loudsound Events' Jim King.

The main stage production lighting design was created by Steven Abbiss. He looked at the principal headlining band's spec' and created a "house" design that would work for them, along with their assorted specials packages, plus the raft of other performers taking to the stage over the weekend. As always with a festival situation, flexibility and adaptability was the key to

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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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Qatar - La Cigale Hotel in Doha satisfies all the criteria of a modern five-star hotel. Whilst in La Cigale's rooms and suites the international clientele is pampered with luxuries of every description, the Madison piano bar offers entertainment all year round.

To satisfy the many and varied demands placed on the bar's sound reinforcement system, EV's partner in the Lebanon, Hi Fi Services, designed a solution comprising components including Electro-Voice ZX5, ZX1, RX115/75 and SbA760 systems. CP3000S amplifiers, also from Electro-Voice, and a selection of EV microphones round off the installation in the 300-seater piano bar.

"The stipulation was that the sound should match the state-of-the-art ambience of the hotel. With this system, it does just that," says Hi Fi System MD Oussama Mansour.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - At London's Notting Hill Carnival Turbosound Aspect loudspeakers and XTA processing saw action on a street corner of London W11 throughout the event.

Jeff Woodford of NBS Audio provided his NineBar Sound System to Pineapple Tribe, whose eclectic mixture of DJ styles - including dub reggae, breakbeat, Techno and drum & bass - makes them a favourite at a wide range of dance-orientated events.

Located on the corner of Ledbury Road and Lonsdale Road, the NineBar Sound System was arrayed as a mono stack comprising eight Turbosound Aspect TA-880H mid-highs on 12 thumping custom-built subs. This delivered the balance of heavy sub-bass and crystal clear mid-highs or, as Woodford says, "A seriously upfront sound."

With an XTA DP448 processor managing the system, it not only delivered quality sound, it was also straightforward to set up.

"We were doing a club eve

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UK - In response to a customer's brief to provide a waterproof cover for his EX12s at a marathon running event, KV2 Audio has launched a new range of weatherproof covers for its entire range of EX Series of active, powered speakers. The covers include the use of Saatfil Acoustex fabric for the front covering of the cabinet.

SaatiFil Acoustex fabrics are designed for acoustical applications requiring consistent performance and excellent sound pressure levels. They are precisely woven with polyester monofilament fibres to create uniform mesh openings and are used in applications such as microphone pop filters, speakers and headphones, and also combine a Hyphobe treatment that provides moisture-repelling characteristics.

Initially the covers have been made for the most popular EX12 cabinets as shown in the photograph and include rain hoods for the two cable inlets. All stitching

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Spain - D.A.S. reports that Argentina continues to host a large number of live events using D.A.S. Audio Aero systems.

For the 455th anniversary of the founding of the city of Santiago del Estero, an open-air stage was set up for the event at the Aguirre Park in Santiago del Estero, attracting crowds of over 100,000 people. It featured performances by El Chaqueño Palavecino, Néstor Garnica, Peteco Carabajal, Maximiliano Guerra and Juan Saavedra, Dúo Coplanacu, Los Carabajal, Marcelo Toledo and Soledad Pastorutti.

The sound system supplied by Ariel Marti of Marti Audio, comprised 24 Aero 48 systems. 12 were flown on each side of the stage together with 16 of the new LX-218 subwoofer units. Two powered Aero 28A units for front-fill were placed at the foot of the stage, ensuring optimum front-row coverage.

Marti also flew three Variant 112 systems to handle out-fill an

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UK - Cirrus Research will be holding a three-day Noise Measurement Workshop at Leamington Spa in November. The workshop is designed for Health & Safety professionals in the entertainment industry and anyone who needs to meet the legal requirements and HSE expectations of the new Control of Noise at Work regulations, which came into force in April this year.

The Noise Measurement Workshop is a practical course that will cover the skills and knowledge required to manage these regulations and provide a pragmatic guide to the current best practice. This will include analysis of case studies from across the entertainment and music sectors, as well as practical work measurement and assessment using both classic and contemporary examples.

James Tingay of Cirrus Research says, "Applying the Control of Noise at Work regulations within the entertainment and music industry can be a

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UK - Serious Stages supplied staging and structures for several areas at the 2008 Big Chill festival, held at its Eastnor Castle site in Herefordshire. It was the third year running that the Glastonbury based company has worked with this popular and original boutique festival.

The Serious team of 18 was led by Steve McConnell and it took approximately five days to erect the various structures.

The main Open Air Stage comprised a three-bay version of one of Serious's new Supernova roofs - also featured at Glastonbury, Latitude and other festivals this summer. This version of the Supernova offered 22m x 14.4m of stage space. It was customised with an 18m Orbit D-End built on to the back and utilised as a 9m changeover area.

The back area of the stage was joined to the main roof by an interconnecting sheet, and the entire structure was covered in white skins, matching the vibe

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Unexpected News - The Spice Girls have beaten Led Zeppelin to an award for the best music reunion of the last 12 months. The girl group won best live return at the Vodafone Live Music Awards after getting back together for a world tour. It was judged to have been better than the one-off comeback by rock legends Led Zeppelin, with The Verve and James also nominated.

Emma Bunton was the only Spice Girl present, and said she was "a bit shocked" to beat such venerable rock acts as Led Zeppelin. The pop group's victory will raise eyebrows among rock fans, but Bunton told the BBC News website: "The thing is, when you go to a gig, you go for fun and entertainment and a night out. And that's exactly what we did and I think that's why people enjoyed it so much."

Theatre News - Up to 95 publicly-funded theatres across England are to offer free tickets to young adults as par

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Italy - A party for Yamaha motorcycle fans was amplified by Outline Butterfly. The eleventh edition of the Yamaha Fest, staged at Misano Adriatico featured 24 Outline Butterfly CDH 483 Hi-Pack (12 aside) backed up by 6+6 Victor Live subwoofers flown at the side of the stage. All were powered and controlled by Outline Series T power amps and Genius 26 processors.

The project was overseen by Planet Service of San Marino, a rental company with a stock of Outline arrays and one of the most qualified European companies in the corporate event field. Fine-tuning the rig was entrusted to system engineer Carlo Gennaro, who carried out the work on behalf Planet Service.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - During a successful PLASA show, Prolyte launched the completely restyled, updated and rewritten Black Book, in an English version. The so-called Black Book was formerly known as a resource for technical matters in a white brochure.

A special German version was released in 2007, focusing on the special regulations and rules for the German market. Based on this version, the newly released English translation is again fullyupdated with new developments, such as the European CWA 25 workshop agreement.

"We are aware that numerous technicians carry our brochure around, just to have all the detailed and practical information on truss and rigging topics at hand, which is one of the reasons why we have published the Black Book in a handy A5 format. Developments on international regulations are progressing strongly and Prolyte is always keen to inform its customers of the late

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USA - Renkus-Heinz, worldwide distributor of EASE, EASE JR and EASERA, and Ahnert Feistel Media Group (AFMG), the developer of these and other programmes for sound system designers and manufacturers, will demonstrate the latest enhancements to the programmes at the AES convention in San Francisco next month. The new versions will be released later in the fourth quarter of 2008.

"We are continually working to maintain EASE and EASE JR on the leading edge of speed, compatibility and functionality," says Stefan Feistel of AFMG. "Version 4.3 includes significant enhancements to drawing import functions, mapping and room acoustics. With our lifetime licensing policy, current users will be able to download and install the upgrade at no charge."

(Jim Evans)

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USA - J. R. Clancy has hired Charles B. Shatzkin as international sales manager. The creation of this position is part of the company's plan to increase overseas sales of its products.

Shatzkin brings more than 25 years' experience in marketing, sales and public relations to Clancy, as well as expertise in all facets of technical theatre. A working lighting designer, Shatzkin served as team leader on the renovation of the J.H. Mulroy Civic Center in Syracuse, NY, which involved the total replacement of sound, lighting, stage lift and rigging systems.

"We're very pleased that Charlie is joining us," said Tom Young, vice president of marketing and sales for J. R. Clancy. "With his long experience in theatre and international sales work, he is a perfect fit for us. Charlie will be a terrific asset as we build on our already strong presence outside of the United Sta

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Singapore - Wireless Solution Sweden recently saw its W-DMX reach new heights. The Singapore Flyer is the world's largest observation wheel on the southeast tip of the Marina Centre in Singapore. Reaching a height of 165m (541ft), the wheel exceeds the height of the London Eye by 30m.

Lighting designer Douglas Brenan of Project Lighting Design (PLD) envisioned a dynamic display of light and changing colour with an eco-friendly solution. PLD worked together with Philips SSL Solutions for the lighting design. Philips SSL Solutions recommended Color Kinetics LED modules for the spokes and capsules. The biggest challenge was getting the DMX signal to the units. This required some innovative wireless technology. After careful planning, W-DMX by Wireless Solution was chosen as the most reliable choice.

The LED modules consist of 280 Color Kinetics iColor Accent Powercore, 112 2-Foot

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UK - Fans were able to enjoy a successful Bestival Weekend in the Isle of Wight this September, in spite of consistently wet weather before and during the event, with the help of crowd management company Showsec. The company played a significant role in helping to keep the 40,000 capacity audience safe and warm, while at the same time ensuring that its own team was well equipped to operate in harsh conditions.

With over 450 personnel on site, Showsec's contingency plans included using cabins and vehicles as drying areas for uniforms, ensuring that every staff member had dry clothes for their next shift, as well as maintaining the infrastructure of the staff campsite to ensure off-duty teams were well rested.

Showsec area manager Steve Reynolds commented: "Our risk management procedures always allow for poor weather at festivals and Bestival put those plans to the toughest

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UK - The PSA Welfare & Benevolent Fund accepted a donation of £500 from Clay Paky's Knights of Illumination Awards at this year's PLASA Show. A cheque was handed over by Clay Paky president and managing director Pasquale Quadri and marketing manager Enrico Caironi to Britannia Row Productions' Mike Lowe, one of the Fund's Trustees.

The only awards exclusively dedicated to lighting designers, the Knight of Illumination Awards are the result of an idea launched by Clay Paky and organised by the Italian firm in collaboration with STLD and ALD. The four awards categories are for Theatre, TV, Rock and a Lifetime Recognition award.

Enrico Caironi said: "We are delighted to offer our support to this established industry charity that helps Production Services Association members and their families at times of crisis."

PSA Welfare & Benevolent Fund Chairman Mike Lowe

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France - The Francofolies festival, which has taken place every year since 1985 in La Rochelle, has given numerous sound engineers the opportunity to discover and test the Midas XL8 Live Performance System, with four XL8s being used across the event.

The festival organisers chose Fa Musique, first XL8 owner in France, to provide sound reinforcement systems for both stages. Richard Ferriday (Midas brand development manager) made the journey to La Rochelle to assist the French team and provide technical support.

Two XL8s for FOH and monitors were set up for the main stage and a further system was used for the Grand Théâtre stage, where Jean Marandet from EVI Audio France handled technical support. The fourth system was installed in a backstage hospitality suite where visiting engineers could familiarise themselves with the control centre and record their settings before

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Colombia - Santiago Perez Sonido Professional, located in Bogota, recently became the newest Latin American partner of Adamson Systems Engineering. Key man Santiago Perez purchased 10 Adamson SpekTrix cabinets, two SpekTrix W's, 6 SpekTrix Subs, and two Adamson proprietary DX6000 processors for his inventory.

A small company with six employees, Santiago Perez Sonido Professional has been in the business of sound and lighting for the past five years. Focused mainly on small to mid-sized festivals and corporate events, Perez's shop now includes Adamson compact sized Line-Arrays, JBL's monitors, Yamaha digital boards, a Soundcraft analogue board, and a small inventory of moving lights.

Perez decided on Adamson after the frequent use of a similar Adamson SpekTrix set-up from a local Adamson partner, Producciones Carlos Vallejo.

Abba Trading technical director Daniel Fernandez fl

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UK - ETC's Ion control system has received favourable reviews since several appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe festival, says the company.

Simon Wilkinson used one for the Fringe First Award-winning production Slick at the Traverse Theatre, a show produced by Vox Motus in which actors' heads are superimposed on small puppet bodies. "We were lucky to be in touch with Jeremy Roberts, ETC's associate regional manager for UK and Ireland, who told us about the Ion and lent us one to try out during the show's development," he says. "I don't think I could have produced a show this technically complicated within the resources available without the Ion."

Adrian Searle, technical manager for Stage Electrics reports that the two Ions they rented to the Assembly Rooms were extremely well received. "In co-operation with ETC, we held a training day at the end o

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UK - During the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the beautiful church of St George's West becomes The World@St George's West, opening its doors to traditional dance forms from around the globe. The shows were the result of a an idea by international show producers Toby Gough and John Simpson, with the support of actor Brian Cox and Peter Gabriel, and were the culmination of much hard work and dedication from a team of volunteers, as well as generous donations from an array of audio and lighting manufacturers, amongst them XTA Electronics.

Featured acts included the Capoeira Knights from Brazil, the Zawose Family from Tanzania, Children of the Khmer from Cambodia and Hemingway's Havana from Cuba. The shows proved a runaway success with The World@St George's West ultimately winning the Jack Tinker Spirit of the Fringe venue award.

As this was a purely voluntary affair, Real Wor

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