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UK - Willie Williams - best known for his colossal show designs for U2, R.E.M., George Michael and others - has created an exhibition of 'light paintings', in a unique solo exhibition at Wallspace, the art venue at All Hallows on the Wall, in the heart of the City of London. 'Lumia Domestica' runs until 12 December.

Williams' work with light and visual media, creating unique installations and performance environments, often on a huge scale, has been highly regarded as both conceptually and technologically groundbreaking. Wired magazine ranked him one of the top 25 visionaries in entertainment in 2000.

Williams' ideas have always demonstrated the influence of a vigorous engagement with art. For example in 1997, he and U2 met and collaborated with Roy Lichtenstein, Alan Ginsberg, William Burroughs and Howard Finster, as well as the estates of Andy Warhol and Keith Haring, to cre

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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 - French lantern manufacturer Robert Juliat, has provided a full complement of lighting equipment to Curve, the new theatre in Leicester, which opened this November. Robert Juliat fixtures supplied include long-throw profile lanterns, follow spots, and fresnel- and pebble-convex lens spotlights - including the versatile Lutin with interchangeable lenses.

Designed by renowned architect Rafael Viñoly, Curve Leicester features two auditoria: a main auditorium of 800 fixed seats and a smaller versatile space of 400 seats. 32 tonne steel walls separate the stage from the foyer and can be lifted out to make the stage visible from street level. The open plan foyer is enclosed by a glass façade offering views onto the café, bars and across the stage. The resulting transparency reflects the concept behind the design, which is to make the arts accessible to the public at every

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UK - The sound on the UK leg of the current Oasis tour was entrusted to Britannia Row Productions. On FOH, Brit Row used an Outline Butterfly system consisting of 82 elements (CDH 483 Hi-Packs) supported by 30 Subtech 218; the system was digitally controlled by Dolby Lake processors and amplified by Outline T9 power amps (2 x 4800W on 2 Ohms, a single rack unit and weighing in at 12 kg).

FOH engineer Bruce Johnston said: "I liked the sound of the system. The horns were very powerful and exactly suited what I was looking for with Oasis. After a few shows, the system really started to get up and go and I got lots of comments saying that it was the best Oasis had ever sounded. With 15 Subtech 218 subs per side, we had some amazing low end happening and really got the room shaking. We had no issue with the system's capabilities and were able to get the volume needed for a band

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Ireland - MOSCO Sound Design, d&b audiotechnik's representative in Ireland, showed the versatile additions to d&b's established E-Series range of loudspeaker systems at Even.Tech 2008. These were complimented on the stand by the new d&b D6 amplifier as well as the R70 Ethernet to CAN interface.

Thre E8, E12 and E12-D all combine polyurethane hard foam cabinets with coaxial LF/HF drivers at their heart. Designed for use as standalone full-range loudspeakers, any of these models can be integrated into d&b's larger systems without compromise to performance, says the company. All three models have horns that rotate through 90º, with patterns of 90º x 50º, 80º x 50ºand 110º x 50º (h x v) as well as high power ratings of 129 dB, 134 dBm and 133 dB SPL respectively. With the addition of the E15X subwoofer the bandwidth can be extended down to 40 Hz.

In the same vein, the D6 am

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UK - German searchlight and large lightsource specialist A&O Technology has opened a UK rental operation to compliment its facilities in Europe, the US and the Middle East.

A&O UK's warehouse will carry an extensive stock of its Falcon Architectural and Entertainment product ranges, and will be based in Blackburn, Lancashire, with easy transport links to all the UK and Ireland. A London office is scheduled to be announced, to provide a central administrative base for the new venture.

HSL will provide service and technical support. HSL currently holds the largest stock of A&O's Falcon range fixtures in the country, and has worked extensively with this technology for the last three years.

Marco Niedermeier, MD of A&O says: "This is a perfect opportunity to strengthen our worldwide business and commercial network. It will allow us to continue expanding the continuity of se

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In and out of court - The legal dispute over a music contract between Michael Jackson and an Arab sheikh has ended with an "amicable settlement", their lawyers have said. Jackson had been due to fly in to give evidence at the High Court before an agreement in principle was reached. The King of Bahrain's son, Sheikh Abdulla Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, was suing Jackson for £4.7m, claiming he reneged on a music contract.

The court was told on Monday that the agreement would remain confidential. Bankim Thanki QC, for the sheikh, told the judge: "We are very pleased to announce an amicable settlement has been reached on confidential terms." Lawyers for both sides then went into conference before releasing a joint statement which simply said: "They wish each other well in their own respective endeavours." Leaving the High Court on Monday, a spoke

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UK - PSCo has appointed Liz Kerrigan as Sales Manager, focussing on increasing the service levels for integration partners, as the company's portfolio expands with new products including the 108" LCD from Sharp.

Following her successful track record in a variety of roles within broadline consumer computing and electronics, Liz has been appointed to head up the specialist sales operation at PSCo. She will be working alongside the UK's leading integration companies for PSCo's range of high end, visually innovative products to help bring new products to market and improve client communication.

Liz started out with Computer 2000, before moving to Logitech to manage its distribution channel. Her career blossomed at Micro-P where she grew the consumables division from £600,000 to £1.2 million in nine months. This success saw her move to InTechnology (Now DNS Arrow)

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UK - LSI Online has learned the sad news of the death of Robert Ornbo, one of the most prolific lighting designers of the 20th Century. Here, his friend and colleague Richard Pilbrow remembers Robert's career:

Robert Ornbo was a brilliant and prolific lighting designer, whose work on over 300 productions ranged across drama, musicals, opera and ballet to events such as the Edinburgh Tattoo, the Royal Tournament, the naming ceremonies of ocean-going liners and events at Buckingham Place for the Royal Family. His influence has had a profound impact on theatrical lighting over the last 50 years.

Robert was the first lighting designer to join Richard Pilbrow in the fledgling company Theatre Projects in 1960 and he became managing director of Theatre Projects Lighting during its heyday when its team of lighting designers, who included Robert Bryan, John B. Read, David Hersey and An

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Australia - The Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA), organiser of CEDIA Expo, and Exhibitions & Trade Fairs, (ETF) the organiser of ENTECH Expo, have announced a co-operation agreement between their organisations.

In a joint statement, CEDIA executive director Stephen Miller and ETF managing director, Matthew Walton said: "Our announcement today is just the start of an ongoing relationship between our two organisations. With merging technologies meaning products and technologies are used across a wider range of applications plus a changing landscape in the way many of our stakeholders conduct their businesses we saw a great opportunity to add value to the industry and our events by working closer together."

The first phase of the relationship will see co-operation and cross promotion between the CEDIA Expo in July 2009 and ENTECH Expo in Febr

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Brazil - Martin Professional has appointed Pro Shows Comércio de Eletroeletrônicos Ltda as its new distributor in Brazil. The agreement, which makes Pro Shows Martin's official representative in the country, became effective in early September.

Located in the city of São Leopoldo, Pro Shows was founded in 2003. "We are very pleased to have Pro Shows as our new representative in Brazil and are confident we can re-establish Martin as the preferred lighting brand in the Brazilian market," said Martin area sales manager Peter Dahlin. "Our new cooperation will be kick started with a road show to the major cities in Brazil at the end of November and in early December."

Pro Shows president, Vladimir de Souza, has a long history in the industry, having founded the company on the values of service, teamwork, trust and dedication. He commented on the new par

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UK - 5 November saw the inaugural TAO Awards, designed to celebrate the hard work and expertise of the day to day crews that make an event happen. Held at The Apartments in Wiltshire, England, the awards credited those who have shown exemplary work on TAO Groups events over the previous 12 months.

TAO Group's Andy Cotton said: "There are a number of superb awards events in the calendar including the TPi Awards, NOEA Awards and the TESA Event Awards, some of which we as a company have been honoured to win. The idea of these awards was to recognise the work of the stage builders, truck drivers, humpers and all the other disciplines required to make an event happen. We wanted to award the 'blood, sweat and tears' of the workers on TAO events as opposed to the companies, as without these people events don't happen."

The awards were hosted by Ian Sandy and presented by va

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UK - When the Control of Noise At Work Regulations 2005 - originally introduced in 2006 for heavy industry - became enforceable for the music and entertainment sector earlier this year, theatre specialists Orbital Sound were quick to respond.

The company immediately set up a thorough risk assessment programme, which is already being adopted by several leading West End theatre production (and touring) companies. The assessment monitors employee exposure to sound levels within the workplace, setting out different thresholds of risk, over short bursts and sustained periods, along with the appropriate action that needs to be taken.

Central to this are small 'dosemeters', which are clipped discreetly onto employees working in specific areas which are activated simply via a keyfob; the readings are then monitored by Orbital.

Orbital Sound technical director, Tim Sherratt, w

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USA - LEDtronics recently celebrated its first 25 years of solid-state lighting design since the enterprise's founding by Pervaiz and Almas Lodhie. During the anniversary event at their Torrance, California, headquarters, LEDtronics executives thanked employees and customers for making possible the company's successes to date, and for providing advanced technological opportunities for future achievements.

"My wife and I began this as a cottage industry in a suburban garage in 1983, finding buyers among the local aerospace firms," Pervaiz Lodhie, the company's president, explained. "We've grown into a multimillion dollar manufacturer with over 300 employees, with a 63,000sq.ft facility in California and a second plant in Karachi, Pakistan. We're a world-leading supplier of lamps using up-to-date light-emitting diode [LED] technology with a global network of sales r

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World Since ETC introduced its compact new Ion lighting control desk a year ago, orders have come in from around the world. Nearly 1,000 new end users have invested in the system, ranging from traditional mid-sized theatres, to independent contractors who own their own Ions.

Lighting designer Tim Edwards of TS Lighting in west London uses an Ion for control on all of his shows. On a recent production of the musical Godspell , Edwards used the Ion to control conventionals, scrollers, Studio Colors and hazers. "ETC has really hit the nail on the head," says Edwards. "The Ion has been a joy to use. One of the major benefits for me is its effects generator. I can very quickly create and adapt existing effects to get stunning results. The offline editor is another extremely useful tool that enables me to programme shows while on the move, via my laptop. "

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UK - Wax Jambu has opened on Islington's Upper Street hospitality circuit. Experienced on the Newcastle bar circuit, operators Jimi Pearce, Sara Nixon and Will Partridge began their quest for their own venue a year ago, reviewing sites in Manchester and Edinburgh before deciding on a former North London nightclub.

Setting a conversion budget of £100,000 (including internal structural work) they contacted Studio Output for their 2D graphic design work and the experienced Julian Taylor Design Associates (with whom they had previously worked in Newcastle) for the interior fit-out. The result is a 220-capacity late night music and cocktail bar.

Despite its bijou size, the owners wanted to achieve maximum flexibility, and based on recommendation, contacted CP Sound's Colin Pattenden to install a versatile DJ and live playback system based largely around Harman Pro components.

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Canada - The Eastern Canadian City of Moncton, New Brunswick, which hosts the annual Magnetic Hill Music Festival, has purchased 90 metres of barrier from Mojo Barriers.

The outdoor Magnetic Hill site has welcomed major concerts by the Rolling Stones, who attracted 85,000 people in 2005, and this year's Long Road out of Eden Tour by the Eagles, attended by 55,000 visitors.

The sale of the refurbished steel barrier, from Mojo Barriers' US office, was driven by the venue's need to be able to provide the highest level production facilities to visiting acts. The relative remoteness of the Canadian site was a potential obstacle for touring artists but the venue's newfound ability to offer the best available in-house barrier facilities will considerably ease the logistical burden for visiting international tours.

"Magnetic Hill Music Festival is one of the largest events in E

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Spain - The current global financial crisis failed to dampen enthusiasm for Digital Technology Expo 2008, recently held at the ExpoAthens Exhibition Centre in Greece, closing its doors with positive results. D.A.S. Audio distributor for Greece, IMA Audio, was "extremely satisfied" with the event since among the large number of visitors to the IMA Audio booth were existing clients as well as many business contacts from different areas of Greece.

A wide range of D.A.S. products were exhibited on the IMA Audio booth, including the Arco, Artec, Reference and DR series, as well as Variant 25, Variant 112 and Sub 18H systems. Despite its mainly national focus, the trade show continues to build on its position in Greece as a leading showcase for the professional sound and lighting, audio-visual, music and technology sectors. It is complemented by an educational programme, inc

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Ireland - Litestructures has announced the appointment of Castle Stage Hire as its new hire partner covering both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Established in 1992, Castle Stage Hire has become one of Irelands leading suppliers of mobile stages. Part of its continued expansion relied on the acquisition of an industry standard demountable decking system, and LiteDeck was the choice. The deal was put together between Castle Stage hire MD Cormac McCormick, Litestructures and UK master stockholding distributor Impact Products.

Taking an extensive stock of over 60 LiteDeck, along with leg frames, handrails and step units gives Castle Stage Hire a complete decking system to allow them to provide a turnkey solution to any client requirement.

Cormac McCormick comments: "We researched the market and have invested in LiteDeck as we recognise it to be not only a to

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USA - Twenty-five-year industry veteran - and admitted "gear-obsessed musician" - Tom Menrath has been appointed to the newly-created position of Behringer vice-president, Global Business Development.

"We believe that Tom is the perfect person to spearhead increased worldwide sales and marketing initiatives for us," observed Behringer CEO Michael Deeb. "During Tom's tenure as Guitar Center's business development director, he grew outside sales tenfold in less than five years. His prior accomplishments as director of sales and marketing at Monster Cable and marketing/business development at Mesa/Boogie are equally impressive."

According to Deeb, Menrath's expertise in all aspects of channel management as well as long-term strategic planning will be integral to Behringer's ongoing aggressive market expansion plans.

(Lee Baldock)

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