Details
UK - Adlib Audio continues its ongoing relationship with the Kaisers Chiefs, supplying all sound equipment and crew for the band's latest arena leg of their Off With Their Heads world tour.

Adlib's systems tech Tony Szabo has worked with the band and FOH engineer Chris Leckie since Adlib first won the sound contract in 2007.

Leckie once again specified a JBL VerTec line array which light in weight, making it easily adaptable for some of the smaller shows in Europe. "We can get 11 cabinets on a 1 tonne point." Szabo points out.

They carried a total of 60 VT4889 mid hi cabinets for the arena leg, together with 16 of the updated VerTec 4880A subs and 16 of the new L-Acoustics SB28 subs. The L-Acoustics SB28 formed a nice solid ground stack whilst the Vertec subs

Details
Italy/UK - Clay Paky has confirmed the appointment of Ashley Lewis as regional sales manager for the United Kingdom and Ireland. Lewis will start in his new position immediately and will be responsible for the broad customer base of Clay Paky in the region, adding value to the existing relationships and providing local support.

Lewis, who has 20 years' experience in entertainment lighting, commented, "I am looking forward to working with such a professional and respected lighting company and I am so honoured to be looking after such a loyal network of quality dealers."

Pio Nahum, international sales director at Clay Paky said: "The creation of this new position happens at a very positive time for Clay Paky and it is part of our strategic plan for providing our customers with a solid support worldwide. I have known Ashley for many years and I respect his competen

Details
UK - The new British Music Experience (BME) this month took up permanent residence at London's O2 Arena. The high-tech, interactive music exhibition combines one of the most complex audio-visual systems ever designed -masterminded by integration specialists Sysco - with much music memorabilia.

Working with Land Design, BME's exhibition designers, Sysco constructed a technical infrastructure that enables music lovers to trace historic moments and trends through the decades, learn about music's influence on art, fashion and politics, develop their skills on guitar, bass, drums and vocals, and participate in a full public and educational programme with workshops, lectures, master-classes and concerts.

As an interactive exhibition it enables them to scroll through years of music, video clips, stories and images of their favourite artists.

With over 100 artists featured in the ex

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

Details
USA - In February 2009, a team of instructors and about 70 participants from all over the United States and Canada travelled to Midland, Texas to attend Tomcat's Hoist and Truss workshop and Rigging and Truss workshop.

The Hoist and Truss workshop featured the disassembly and reassembly of a one ton Lodestar as well as a Prostar with Dave Carmack of Columbus McKinnon. Dave Sowa of Tomcat USA led a discussion on control systems and also coached an advanced troubleshooting session along with CM's Dave Carmack. Instruction was rounded out by Dana Bartholomew of Fisher Technical Services who gave instruction and demonstrations on automation.

G. Anthony Phillips, of RigRider Rigging Services and ETCP certified rigger and instructor taught safe rigging practices and principles while Morgan Neff of Mine Safety Appliances gave instruction on fall protection practices and equipment. Pa

Details
USA - J. R. Clancy now includes a three-year warranty, provided that the owner completes a maintenance and safety inspection of their new rigging each year by an authorised J. R. Clancy dealer.

"We want the end-users of our equipment to be successful," said Tom Young, vice president of marketing for J. R. Clancy. "Motorised equipment is more complex than manual equipment, and it needs more specialised inspection and maintenance. We want our users to have trouble-free systems, and the best way to ensure this is to have the equipment inspected regularly by a trained professional.

"OSHA requires an annual inspection of all overhead lifting systems," Young continued. "But many facilities do not inspect and maintain rigging systems in their stages. As the first rigging manufacturer to offer a three-year warranty on motorised rigging, we can emphasize t

Details
UK - Shure Distribution UK has announced the sudden and unexpected death of the company's managing director Dennis Harburn after a short illness. Dennis passed away peacefully at home over last weekend.

The company has asked that any messages of condolence be sent to Shure Distribution so that they can be forwarded on to the family. The company's address is: Unit 2, The I.O. Centre, Lea Road, Waltham Abbey, Essex, EN9 1AS, UK.

Dennis's funeral will be held on Thursday 26 March at 4.00pm at The Garden of England Crematorium, Sheppey Way, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME9 8GZ. Following the service, a reception will be held at the Hempstead House Hotel, London Road, Bapchild, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME9 9PP.

For those wishing to make a donation, please make this "In memory of Dennis Harburn" to the Oliver Fisher Specialist Baby Care Unit at Medway Hospital (

Details
UK - David 'Steedsy' Stevenson of Ward Steedsy Associates is organising a fund rasing event for FACE - Fight Against Cancer in Edinburgh - a charity based at the city's Western General Hospital.

The event takes place on Saturday 20 June at Linlithgow Rugby Club which is just 10 minutes from Edinburgh airport. Entertainment will include live music from the band Aye Right - formerly known as Last Tram Tae Auchenshuggle, plus 80s disco, food and drink aplenty. "I'd love as many of you as possible to come along," says Steedsy. "Not only to raise money for a great cause, but to have a great night too."

(Jim Evans)

Details
USA - The Long Reach Long Riders and The ESTA Foundation announced the results of their joint raffle to benefit the Behind the Scenes programme at the USITT conference in Cincinnati, Ohio.

A total of $5,236 was raised from raffle ticket sales during the three-day conference, more than doubling the $2500 Challenge Grant issued by Sapsis Rigging. In addition, Jonathan Deull made a $1500 donation to Behind the Scenes in support of the Long Reach Long Riders 2009 charity ride this summer, bringing the total raised at USITT to $9,236.

The winners and their prizes are: Fred Allen - Altman Rentals Ghostlight; Shan Ayers - USITT 2010 Conference Registration; Dennis Booth - Nolan Engineering Services' Structural Master Class; Ed Condit - Martin Light Jockey; Kacey Fisher - Live Design's Broadway Master Class; Ben Gasper - Utah Shakespearean Festival Ticket Package; David Griffith - Sap

Details
UK - The Michael Northen Bursary 2009 will be awarded by the ALD in conjunction with ETC and The Mousetrap Foundation. This prestigious award which is open to all students, and not just ALD members.

The Michael Northen Bursary was set up by lighting designer Michael Northen shortly before he passed away in 2001. It takes the form of a £500 prize awarded to a student who shows exemplary talent in lighting design. The award is to be judged on a project that the student has produced within the past academic year (July 2008 - July 2009). This award was originally made in conjunction with the White Light Bursary and since 2004 the ALD has administered the scheme and organises the presentation of awards as a fitting tribute to Michael who was a founding member of the ALD and a previous President. The fund itself is held by The Mousetrap Foundation, an organisation committed to e

Details
USA - CAD developer Design & Drafting has released LD Assistant 08.5 with sACN support. This allows consoles that support ACN to connect with LD Assistant over a local network. Consoles include those from Electronic Theatre Controls that support ETC's Net3. "I believe that you will see GrandMa, Strand, Pathway, CK and other manufacturers moving to the ACN protocol. With the ease of use that ACN brings to the table, it just makes sense," says Florin Nitu, programmer and VP of Design & Drafting.

Included in the release is an enhanced Jands Vista and Vista PC connection using Art-Net. This connection allows user to connect and operate both Vista PC and LD Assistant 08.5 on the same computer, without needing any dongles.

Other new features include Save Views in any of the three Simulators for quick return, named views support, more moving light profiles, gobos, textures

Details
The Netherlands - XLNT Advanced Technologies has launched the PowerMotion DS8 Pro and Pro Plus Series of solid state motion controllers. The first public showing of the DS8 Series will be at the ProLight&Sound trade show in Frankfurt - with German distributor CAST, C. Adolph & RST Distribution.

Each DS8 motion controller can control up to eight direct or low voltage control chain hoists, and features a Solid State MCB per individual motor/channel plus adjustable maximum power output up to 9 Amps. The highest level of safety and protection is provided by the PL D, ISO 13849-1 and SIL2 compliant Emergency Stop System.

The DS8 Series is available in two types - for direct control and for low voltage control chain motors. Each type also comes in a choice of two versions. The 'Pro' version provides full hoist control for all typical professional rigging applications. The 'Pro Plus'

Details
Romania - A Nexo Geo D line array system has been shipped Digital Audio Xpert (DAX) in Bucharest which becomes the first rental company to offer Geo technology in Romania. To complete its inventory, it has also ordered CD18 subs, NX242 digital controllers fitted with EtherSound extension cards, and a supply of CAMCO Vortex 6 amplifiers.

Digital Audio Xpert was founded in 2000 by Dax Nedelcu, who works as front-of-house engineer for Stefan Banica Jr, one of Romania's leading entertainers. Over the last nine years, DAX has expanded its original brief to include rental services of sound, staging, lighting, video and special effects, and also handles direct sales of pro-audio equipment.

Dax Nedelcu chose his new line array system carefully. "For me, the Geo D is the ideal sound system - for many reasons. First of all, I can do outdoor and indoor gigs with no compromise whatso

Details
Germany - Christ's Church, in Velbert, North Rhine Westphalia, recently celebrated the 100th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone.

To celebrate this historic occasion, the church decided to invest in a thoroughly modern sound system - based around the first Martin Audio OmniLine system to be installed in a German church, powered by Crest Audio amplification with processing via an Architectural Acoustics Digitool MX programmable digital processor.

Christ's Church, Velbert is reputed to be one of the most significant 'Jugendstil' or art nouveau churches in western Germany. Designed by architect Carl Krieger with interior design by Franz Brantzsky, the 900-seater church affords worshippers a completely unimpeded view of the altar, font, pulpit and organ, thanks to the fact that Krieger avoided using any columns as internal supports.

Technical project manager

Details
USA - The rigging system of the Strand Theatre in Lakewood, New Jersey was recently renovated by RDM Rigging of Pine Beach, New Jersey. Opened in 1922, the Strand Theatre remains a popular centre for plays, musicals and touring productions.

As part of the rigging renovation, all the on stage circuitry and associated support structures were replaced. The new on stage lighting rig includes 18ft of ProSpan box truss, 20 ProBurger couplers, three CM half-ton chain motors and a Skjonberg motor control system. The custom-designed on stage lighting system includes 150 stage circuits, using 59 custom ProCable assemblies as well as a 96 circuit custom multi-connector panel. Equipment was supplied by TMB.

"We had to design a complete system specific to the theatre's needs," says Rich DiMinno, of RDM Rigging. "It was conceived, designed, and installed in 30 days. Because o

Details
UK - Orbital Sound has launched a novel collect-and-recycle scheme designed to encourage the responsible processing of used dry-cell batteries. Aimed at touring theatre productions and West End shows, which consume large numbers of batteries to power radio microphones and other portable equipment, Orbital's new service gives theatres an easy option for meeting their legal duty-of-care responsibilities for the safe disposal of all battery types.

As part of the scheme, Orbital has designed a custom case specifically for the safe storage and transit of used batteries. Tim Sherratt, technical director of Orbital, explained: "We are all prioritising environmental concerns and, after canvassing opinion within many theatres, felt the timing for this service was absolutely right. Recycling radio mic batteries might not seem too significant in the grand scheme of things but, if you

Details
UK - TOA Electronics Europe returns to the International Firex show this year with the most comprehensive range of audio products it has ever offered to the fire and security communities. The company will show a range of solutions for public address and voice alarm as well as emergency evacuation applications, with the emphasis on networkability, scalability, and ease of use.

"All of TOA's PA/VA systems have fireman's microphone options, and are easy to integrate with fire detection systems," says Brett Downing, sales & marketing director, TOA Europe. "That makes International Firex the perfect place to demonstrate not just the technology inside our products, but the way in which they make life simpler for installers and end-users alike."

Among the highlights on TOA's Firex stand will be the new VM-3000 PA/VA system, designed as a cost-effective solution fo

Details
Germany -, Prolyte will debut four new products at ProLight&Sound in Frankfurt.

Prolyte Space Roof is a a modular roof system; Prolyft Mark IIIis the latest version of the Prolyft hoist; Prolyft Controllers are a new range of high-end but affordable controllers, and there will also be more in the Prolyft Rigging hardware line.

Also on display will be established Prolyte trussing products and Stage DEX.

(Jim Evans)

Details
Canada - When Christie Lites (Toronto) began working on plans for lighting the General Motors booth at the 2009 Canadian International Auto Show (CIAS), keeping the budget lean but replicating past year's successful design elements was a tough order to fill.

Located in the show's main exhibition hall at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the GM booth covered a sprawling 84,600sq.ft. On display were 104 cars and trucks from all of the company's brands -- a myriad of offerings including Saturn, Saab and Hummer.

The original plot called for in excess of 500 fixtures to light the exhibit but the budget demands spoke to a more limited scope. Still, the overall visual integrity needed to be respected, with a solid balance between base light levels and visual punch for the featured products.

"Our inventory runs at a very high level in late winter due to the significant deman

Details
UK - PLASA Focus will provide visitors with an opportunity to see an important UK product debut from PRG Distribution. The revolutionary product from SpotlessLight will also be revealed at PLASA Focus, Leeds.The Spotlesslight attaches to your digital projector and uses it as the light source; it then emits and reads infrared light to detect and track performers or objects on a stage within the projector's throw area.

The onboard engine then processes this information in real time in order to instruct the projector to map projected light back on to the performer or object - even while the performer is moving. Additionally, the Spotlesslight can function in the reverse mode (projecting only around the object or performer), or a combination of both modes. The light projected back on to the performer can be white light or it can be from Spotlesseffects - hologram-like special effect

Details
UK - Built to function as a theatre, conference centre and meeting point for the Findhorn Foundation and Community in Forres, North East Scotland, the Universal Hall represents an amalgamation of architecture, art and functional performance. Designed by British architect George Ripley, the building's unusual specification includes a hand-carved stone exterior facing, magnificent stained glass entrance and geodesic roof construction where five enormous wooden ring beams hold up the roof.

A true community project, construction of the centre took place over a 10 year period from 1974 to 1984. A mainly volunteer-based workforce numbering literally thousands of people either living at or visiting the Findhorn Foundation Community took part in the building work of the pentagon-based project. Inside, an auditorium area was designed to seat 280 people, with the potential for a total of

Page 2314 of 3465

Latest Issue. . .