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Epic News: A stage production of Ben-Hur is to open next year in London's O2 Arena, marking the movie's 50th anniversary. The highlight of the show, about the life and destiny of the Jewish prince, will include the famous chariot scene. The production will require 400 performers and 100 animals including horses, donkeys, chickens and eagles.

Creator Franz Abraham said the show would have a "high level of artistry that would excite the audience". He added: "The show will have the speed of a musical, the depth of great theatre, the power of a rock concert and the visual opulence of a Hollywood blockbuster."

The thoroughbred horses will undergo 12 months of intensive training with a team of trainers and charioteers. A combination of light, sound, water, w

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UK - Christopher Bushell has chosen to use a Diamond 4 Avolites console from Neg Earth for the Hoosiers Tour 2008. Their UK number 1 album The Trick to Life which quickly became double platinum was released in October last year and is now being played live in UK and France.

Bushell comments: "After trying most consoles, I always go back to Diamond 4. I like to have everything laid out and palletted-up in front of me so it's all easy to grab. The layout of menus, shapes and playback editing is the best with Avolites."

Amongst many dates and different venues, Bushell and The Hoosiers were at London's Brixton Academy for a Halloween gig. The Knight of Illumination nominated lighting designer created an intimate and cheerful atmosphere. A total of 77 Movers and LED blinders were required for the show.

Bushell used the new iPix BB7's as back light on floor and on

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USA - The Soundcraft Vi6 was among the attendees invited to the final stop of a 24-hour non-stop party hosted by Diesel to celebrate its 30th anniversary around the world. The Diesel xXx Rock and Roll Circus took place in 17 major cities across the world; commencing in Tokyo and moving to Beijing, Dubai, Athens, Amsterdam, Milan, Zurich, Munich, Paris, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Oslo, Helsinki, London, Sao Paulo, and finally had its grand finale on Pier 3 in Brooklyn, New York on 11 October.

ESP New York chose the Vi6 for its audio quality and its ability to handle The Rock and Roll Circus that hosted numerous music artists performing in front of thousands of VIP guests.

T.I., N.E.R.D., Franz Ferdinand, M.I.A., Hot Chip, and Chaka Khan performed on the Brooklyn waterfront in front of a crowd of 5,000 VIP attendees.

All the engineers involved with the s

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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 - These days, archiving nightly shows on tour is standard fare, with many A-list bands spending upwards of $50,000 to build a touring recording rig. But as Jim Ebdon found on the current world tour with Maroon 5, he was able to turn his DiGiCo D5 and Apple Mac PowerBook into a powerful and flexible mobile workstation with RME's HDSPe MADIface 128-Channel 192 kHz MADI PCI ExpressCard.

"With this setup, I'm able to have a fully functioning recording studio on the road," Ebdon reports. "The MADIface card takes up virtually no space and I can get it in my computer bag. With that, along with the D5's fantastic functionality and very small footprint-I've got one small rack at FOH and one on stage with one thin cable linking it all-I can get great results."

Ebdon has been able to get most of what he needs from the D5's onboard sound palette, and is carrying on

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USA - ESTA (the Entertainment Services and Technology Association) reports that the 2008 Eva Swan Award was presented to Tim Hansen, for his exceptional service to the Association over many years. The award was presented at ESTA's Annual Dinner on in Las Vegas.

The award was presented by 2005 Swan recipient, Wally Blount, who had worked closely with Hansen in several areas, including the development of the Entertainment Technician Certification Programme (ETCP"I am honoured to be the 2008 recipient of the Eva Swan Award," commented Hansen. "To receive this recognition from your peers is truly a special honour. Everyone who has helped and supported me over the years, especially everyone at Oasis Stage Werks, also deserves a piece of the award. Thank you to ESTA for this very special award. It will always be the high point of my career, but certainly not the end poi

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UK - For the MTV Europe Music Awards at the Liverpool Echo Arena Mojo Barriers provided a black aluminium barrier system to meet the needs of the security and television teams.

The company installed 155m of aluminium stage barrier, 100m of cable ramps and 200m of pedestrian barrier, for the ceremony, which saw Paul McCartney receive an Ultimate Legend Award, with other honours going to Britney Spears, Kanye West, Pink and Lil' Wayne.

"It was important that the barrier fitted in with the overall look of the production," says Kevin Thorborn, Mojo Barriers' UK manager. "We were delighted to be able to respond flexibly when MTV Europe specified a black aluminium barrier. Meeting the production values of our clients is a key part of our service."

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Lighting designer Andy Webb of Tigz Productions utilised 47 Anolis ArcLine RGB LED strips plus Robe ColorWash 750 AT Tungsten and ColorSpot 700E AT moving lights in a ghost-busting lighting scheme for a special production of Goth, staged at Woodchester Mansion near Nympsfield, Stroud, Gloucestershire.

Woodchester Mansion is an enchanting, unfinished Gothic revival mansion house that was created by William Leigh, abandoned by its builders in 1870 and never completed. It is also one of the most haunted houses in the UK - allegedly.

The house provided an atmospheric site specific location for the show created by youth theatre group Dramarama, based on stories and folklore from the Mansion. It was a promenade performance taking place in 13 different locations on three levels around the rambling shell, including the chapel, the cellar and numerous galleries and unfinish

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Canada - Adamson's M-215, first revealed at this year's PLASA in London, was introduced to the North American marketplace at the AES in San Francisco. The M215 power wedge is Adamson's newest addition to the M-Series Monitor line, which will soon see two more products added; the first being the sub-compact symmetrical M12 Monitor, for which a prototype was also displayed at the AES Show.

The trapezoid cabinet features symmetrical driver placement with a 50 x 50-degree conical waveguide. Designed for use as a stage monitor, it can also double as a superior drum- or stage-fill enclosure, specifically aimed for performers wanting extra high SPL without losing intelligibility.

The M215 exhibits low distortion thanks to the qualities of its multilayer Kevlar cone driver. The two long excursion, lightweight Neodymium ND15-L drivers, supply power handling with a solid low frequency r

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Italy - SGM welcomes Marco Galli, the company's new area manager for the foreign market. 38 years old, Galli has a degree in socio-classical studies and 10 years' experience with an important European IP distribution company as marketing and business development manager for several important product lines at national level.

Galli says: "My role at SGM is a great opportunity and an important challenge for me - a challenge I decided to accept with immense pleasure and which I hope to win thanks to the experience built up during my career to date."

(Lee Baldock)

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USA - As a continuation of its green initiative, Apollo Design Technology Inc announced at the recent LDI exhibition in Las Vegas its complete process switch to laser technology for all gobo production. Starting with steel gobos in 2007, laser technology is now being used to produce Apollo glass gobos. The change from chemical etching to laser technology eliminates thousands of gallons of hazardous waste annually, the company says.

"Working with laser technology for the past three years has been amazing," states company founder and president Joel Nichols. "The image consistency lasers provide will catch the user's attention. The additional benefits to the environment and workplace safety that this technology provides make this change a win-win for everyone. With a transition to more eco-friendly packaging also in the works, we are extremely pleased to be deliverin

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UK & Ireland - Snow Patrol has performed four gigs in 48 hours across four different cities: Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh and London. A Midas PRO6 Live Audio System for monitoring travelled with them for the first three shows, with an XL8 Live Performance System used for the final gig in London. Both systems were provided by Britannia Row, with Heritage 3000s sourced locally for front of house.

The epic undertaking started at 01.00 on Sunday 26 October, when Irish rental company Litton Lane loaded their Midas Heritage 3000 and speakers into the Gate Theatre, Dublin. Meanwhile the PRO6 was loaded with new software and set up. Monitor engineer Tristan Farrow had transferred the show files from the XL8 during production rehearsals in London and the band sound-checked at 10.30 for the midday show.

The show finished at 14.00 and half an hour later the crew hightailed it up to Belfas

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Argentina - The 13th edition of the Atahualpa Festival opened at the Club Central Córdoba, Argentina, earlier this year. This folk music marathon lasted over eight hours and was a colourful gathering of the leading Argentinean folk music stars. The festival was held in conjunction with a regional gastronomy fair. The esplanade that hosted the event was packed with over 30,000 people. D.A.S. Audio Aero line array systems provided sound reinforcement for this major event.

Martí Audio, under the direction of Ariel Martí was in charge of the installation and handling of the PA, comprised of 18 Aero 48 systems. The impressive low frequency reproduction was achieved by using 16 units of the new LX-218 for bass reinforcement. As front-fill, two Aero 28 systems were installed to provide coverage for the first rows.

Given the large audience, Marti also set up eight array syst

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USA - October saw Rosco along with The Hemsley Lighting Programmes, and its media partner Lighting&Sound America, present the royalty payment from the colour Roscolux 361 Hemsley Blue.

The check amount for this year was $3,848, making a total of $9184 since the colour was introduced in 2006. Receiving the cheque on behalf of the Hemsley Lighting Programme was board member John McGraw. The presentation took place at LDI in Las Vegas on the Rosco stand and was presented by Stan Miller, chairman, Rosco Laboratories.

Hemsley Blue was created by Mark Stanley, resident lighting designer for the New York City Ballet and theatre professor at Boston University at the suggestion of Stan Miller, in memory of Gilbert Hemsley. Rosco has pledged to donate royalties from the sale of Hemsley Blue to support the Hemsley Lighting Programmes, a not-for-profit foundation offering internshi

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UK - XL Video is supplying a substantial projection system, cameras, PPU, Catalyst and Hippotizer digital media servers and crew for the current Coldplay Viva La Vida world tour.

Working closely with Edinburgh-based Pufferfish, XL has also jointly developed six internally projected spheres - and steel cage housings - which are a major scenic feature of the show.

The show's inventive set and lighting was created by Paul Normandale, with video playback content specially commissioned and produced by Justine Catterall, technical support by Richard Turner and live video directed by Andy Bramley. Des Fallon is International account handler & project manager for XL.

Five 2m diameter globes are onstage, three attached to the two rear trusses (which are horizontal ladder beams shaped like waves), and the other two downstage left and right at the sides of stage, flown on two mo

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Ukraine - Sound and lighting specialists Cortmi has provided dramatic exterior illumination for two landmark buildings in Ukraine, using architectural lighting fixtures from PR Lighting.

The Chinese company's territorial distributors have used eight Century Spot 2500s and eight Century Colour 2500's to provide a permanent installation for Akula business centre in Donetsk, while a four further Century Spot 2500s are providing a dramatic temporary wash at the dwelling house constructed by the local construction company DISC (Donbass Investment and Construction Company. The Class A building occupies a prime location in the downtown area alongside other similar buildings.

The pieces were recommended by Cortmi's project department (led by Viktor Markov) to meet the inventive design of LD Alexander Kirichok.

Cortmi's marketing manager, Stanislav Serbin, says that the PR Lighting f

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USA - Denon Professional is now shipping the DN-C620 CD player. Housed in a compact one-rackspace enclosure, the DN-C620 offers contractors and system integrators "a versatile CD player at an extremely cost-effective price point".

The DN-C620 is compatible with standard audio data file formats including CDDA (.cda) and MPEG-1/2 Layer III (.mp3) and WAVE (.wav), allowing for up to 20 hours of MP3 or similar audio playback from a single CD, CD-R or CD-RW, making it suited to serve as a continuous audio playback device for houses of worship, health clubs, restaurants, and various broadcast applications.

The DN-C620 features intuitive front panel control, which allows customisable programme playlists and output of ID3 or CD-TEXT Title, Artist, and Album information via RS-232C. Additionally, standard 25-pin Contact Closure (GPIO) and 9-pin RS-232C Control connections ar

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USA - ETC's new Unison Paradigm lighting control system has been named Best Debuting Product at LDI 2008 in Las Vegas.

Accepting the award for the Paradigm system, ETC's architectural market manager Joe Bokelman said: "We are so pleased that Paradigm is being recognised as the complete system that it is. We have worked hard to prove that great lighting control means dispensing with the distinction between 'architectural' or 'entertainment' functionality.

"Paradigm is far more comprehensive and adaptable - going way beyond what former lighting control systems could do, and bringing that new power to any level of venue."

(Jim Evans)

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USA - A high powered Renkus-Heinz ceiling loudspeaker system is at the heart of an acoustical solution for a large, multi-purpose dividable lecture room at the Great Hall of the Centre for Continuous Learning at Mount Royal College in Calgary, Alberta.

The Great Hall is a 'L.E.A.D.S.' energy efficient design with exposed concrete surfaces that warm up and then release the stored energy back into the building. The room, being walled in concrete with tall glass windows, posed a tough challenge for consultant Fred Gilpin and local contractor Apex Audio Visual.

The room can be used either as a single large space or can be reconfigured as two or three smaller seminar rooms by giant brushed stainless steel room dividers. Either way the space presents a battery of hard, reflective surfaces. A single audio system was required to serve the needs of both configurations and, the design b

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Romania - Litestructures has developed a new manufacturing base in Slatina, Romania, to supply its European customers. The new 30,000sq.ft factory was officially opened by the Mayor of Slatina, Darius Bogdan Valcov and the British Ambassador, Robin Barnett, in the presence of Ion Prioteasa, president of the county of Dolj and Ioan Ciugulea, Vice-President of the Olt County Council, Romania.

Commenting on this initiative, Litestructures managing director, Adrian Brooks observed: "Even in these hard economic times, perhaps even more so, Romania remains an attractive area for inward investment. Slatina has many connections with the wider aluminium industry, so we were confident of finding the skills and support we needed for this venture."

Christmas 2008 marks the fifth anniversary of Litestructures' relationship with Romania. The Romanian factory will take over product

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China - The Tennis Masters has returned to Shanghai this month and Lighthouse Technologies (Lighthouse) is providing Qizhong Stadium with nearly 40 m2 of R4 4mm LED screens to bring more viewers closer to the action than ever before.

Lighthouse LED panels are appearing at more and more sports venues around the world. "The Macau and Bahrain Grand Prix, Rugby Sevens in Hong Kong, stadiums in US, Australia, Italy, Denmark, Holland, Austria and London just to name a few, as well as the famous Lord's Cricket ground in London have all been excellent examples of how Lighthouse LED screens are creating dramatic impact at major sporting events around the world," said Peter Chan, general manager of Lighthouse Technologies.

"We are also extremely proud to be the LED screen provider for the 2008 Tennis Masters. The R4-S screens we have installed at Qizhong Stadium reflect o

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UK - LCC Photon Technik has introduced four new fluorescent fixtures to complement the extensive spread of fluorescent and conventional lighting fixtures already in the range.

The first two are fixtures specifically designed to light cycloramas. The two-tube fixtures are for the smaller studio, the four-tube units are for the taller cyc that tends to be in purpose built studio spaces. These fixtures have three types of control available DMX/Local, Phase Dimmed and Non Dim. The aysymetric reflectors negates the use of an intensifier and means the depth of the units can be reduced thus saving space.

The third unit is a four- tube, round focusable fluorescent spotlight. This unit creates a natrual catchlight in the eye and has the ability to be "spotted or flooded", says the company.

The last newcomers to the range are a three (RGB), four (RGBY) and eight(Twin RGBY) f

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