Details
UK - Three and a half years since Leona Lewis won television talent show The X Factor, the summer of 2010 saw her embark on her first headline tour, themed after the singer's favourite film, Labyrinth. A DiGiCo SD8 features at the monitor position.

Alongside Lewis, the tour features a four-piece band and two backing vocalists. Monitor engineer Ant Carr chose the SD8 after a lot of deliberation. "I'd used D5s from when they first came out, back when I worked for Skan PA Hire. I'd gone away from them for a bit as newer consoles hit the market, but when this tour came up I spent a long time evaluating and listening to the SD8 at the tour's rental company Wigwam with Alex Hadjigeorgiou's help," he says.

"The SD8 was the right choice because its preamps a

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Turkey - Altincizme Sound & Light, the oldest and most established production hire company in Istanbul, recently provided system solutions for Grup Yorum's 25th Anniversary concert to a record-breaking audience of 55,180 people at the city's Inonu Stadium--according to Biletix, the local subsidiary for Ticketmaster.

The system consisted of a variety of Harman products including a Soundcraft Vi6 large-format console for the front-of-house position - which was purchased in 2009 by Altincizme - and JBL VerTec line arrays.

A 96-channel expansion to the Vi6 handled the Philharmonic Orchestra's addition to Grup Yorum's band for this special event. "The soft Soundcraft sound, which is superior to most other digital consoles I use, along with the analogue feel of the console and the superiority of the Studer core left little doubt about the wisdom of purchasing the Vi6," com

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UK - Fast Track Switching is a new Ethernet-based switching technology developed by Harting that is suited to communication and control of theatre, concert and indoor/outdoor event automation systems.

Ethernet is now the adopted networking standard for automation and the theatre environment is no exception. Applications include networked controls for hoists and other stage machinery.

Unlike alternative proprietary Ethernet protocol approaches which use modified versions of the Ethernet standard compatible with the requirements of different industries, Fast Track Switching is totally based on standard Ethernet, but adds a new switching method to ensure that industry-specific requirements on performance and determinism are fully met, says the company.

The key components in Fast Track Switching are Fast Ethernet switches in Harting's Ha-VIS FTS 3000 product family, which can de

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

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USA - Taking place from 24-26 July 2010, the annual IAAM trade show is part of a wider conference event at the George R. Brown Convention Centre in Houston, Texas. It brings together a diverse range of service providers to public assembly facilities from around the globe.

Lighthouse will be showing its Rn4-B 4mm and Rn6-B 6mm high-resolution rental LED panels. Featuring black LEDs mounted in black-faced panels, both benefit from quiet fanless operation and Lighthouse's M4 colour uniformity technology and high contrast ratio, with straightforward configuration and maintenance.

The screens' high-resolution pixel pitch is designed for close-up viewing, making them suitable for digital signage, as well as other display situations where space is tight.

The Lighthouse booth will also feature the LCM interface processor and a range of Optiled's LED lighting products.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Event crowd management company AP Security has just completed its busiest weekend of 2010, deploying over 2,000 crew members to seven different sites across the UK.

Events during the weekend of 17-18 July included the Latitude Festival in Southwold, Suffolk, Lovebox in London's Victoria Park, JLS concerts for the Forestry Commission at its Westonbirt site near Bristol, Escot Park in Exeter and The Embankment at Peterborough, the Shoreditch Festival and the Newham Town Show, as well as covering their regular venues, such as The O2 and Brixton Academy.

"The logistics of looking after multiple sites and over 2,000 crew are immense," says Simon Miller, AP's northern operations manager who worked with southern operations manager Chris Hollands to coordinate the weekend's workload. "Just one event such as Latitude takes a lot of pre-planning, but when you have se

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UK - Arcola Theatre launched seven of its new HyLight fuel cell powered lighting systems across the Latitude Festival site; providing lighting for everything from marquees, to forest performances to toilets, as well as powering laptops, phone chargers and ticket machines.

HyLight is the first fuel cell product to be developed specifically for the events industry and offers the high reliability demanded through an onboard 'brain' which monitors performance and seamlessly switches to battery back-up in case of fault or user error.

Running on hydrogen, with a run time of 50 hours between refills, the system produces zero emissions and is almost silent. Carbon emission reductions of up to 60% are likely in performance settings through use of the latest LED lighting. The system is also suitable for safety and security lighting where emission reductions of up to 90% are possible by

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USA - Marcel Fairbairn, founder and president of Gear-Source, Inc. and GearSource.com, has signed an exclusive sales and marketing agreement with Coemar. GearSource will serve the North American market utilising its automated lighting sales staff as well as its advanced web-based system, GearSource.com.

Additionally, Fairbairn's company LED Source will exclusively distribute the Coemar LED range -including the popular ParLite LED and new products to be shown at this year's conventions. With the help of company VP and partner Gavin Cooper, Fairbairn established LED Source in 2005 followed by a franchising programme four years later.

"From the industry leading ParLite LED to the rental and touring powerhouse Infinity range, Coemar products deliver exceptional technology and unsurpassed performance," said Fairbairn. "This new relationship with Coemar is a massive w

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Sweden / Spain - LumenRadio has confirmed that Stonex will distribute the CRMX Nova and CRMX Outdoor to the Spanish market. CRMX wireless DMX, RDM and DALI technology eliminates long cable runs and is able to provide full reliability in the the most challenging environments, says the company.

"We have strong increased sales of our CRMX products during the past six months. Our CRMX outdoor series brought unparalleled reliability to the outdoor entertainment and architainment markets. We believe in a good cooperation with Stonex and increased sales in the Spanish market," says Per Hultén, CEO of LumenRadio.

"We are very proud to start a relationship with Stonex and bringing CRMX, the most reliable wireless technology on the market, into Spain. I'm confident that Stonex is the right company to work with and I'm excited about the opportunities I see together

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Brazil - A Midas PRO6 has been installed into one of Brazil's newest venues, the SESC Gama theatre in capital city Brasilia, by AV company Projesom which has been supplying the industry for over 30 years. The 400-seat venue, which opened in April this year, hosts a variety of productions from plays to rock concerts.

"Three years ago we installed a Midas Verona 480 for the same client in another theatre," says Ruslan Viana, Projesom's chief audio engineer, "but it was time to take the step forward to Midas digital. It has been a great success."

Amos Miranda, Projesom's chief electrician on the project, says, "Everyone has been impressed with the user-friendly controls, the flexibility and durability of the system, and, of course, the Midas sound. The PRO6 stands head and shoulders above everything else. There is no doubt that the theatre has the audio w

Details
World - Joan Armatrading has chosen a DPA 4088 cardioid headband mic for vocals on her current world tour, which began in Germany in March.

"It was Joan's intention at the end of her last tour in 2008 to switch to a headworn system so she could be free of the mic stand," says her regular front of house engineer Mike Hogg. "Although I had not tried the 4088 before, previous experience with other DPA microphones gave me the confidence to recommend it for her.

"We have now done over 80 shows with it this year and I love it. The clarity and definition is astounding; even in some of the smaller venues with lower roof heights and tighter stages it performs well with ample gain before feedback. The headband also holds its position well during the show. It's safe to say that we are all very happy with it."

Armatrading's tour has continued across Europe befor

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UK - White Light brought its latest technology to London's Natural History Museum on 28 June, to help the Museum celebrate the launch of its new Courtyard outdoor area, part of the Darwin Centre extension to the landmark building.

Faced with the challenge of lighting the Courtyard cleanly and without disturbance to the event's guests, White Light deployed two of its new HyLight hydrogen fuel-cell powered lighting systems, which had been officially launched just a week earlier.

"We were very pleased to be able to use the new HyLight hydrogen fuel cell system," comments Zoe Watts, the Natural History Museum's head of events. "They are silent with no emissions - perfect for the Darwin Centre's gardens, with their proximity to our residents, and also for complying with the museum's sustainability policy."

"Having the ability to deliver instant power with

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UK - The Adlib Audio team, this year crew chiefed by Hassane Es Siahi, returned to the King Tut's Wah Wah Tent at T in The Park Festival at Balado, Kinross-shire, Scotland.

A rainy & windy weekend didn't stop 80,000 people enjoying the Festival. King Tut's Wah Wah Tent had featured an array of artists and an electric atmosphere throughout the weekend.

The eclectic line up featured amongst many. Ellie Goulding, Empire of the Sun, We Are Scientists , Diana Vickers , Mumford & Sons and concluded with a set by David Guetta on the Sunday evening.

Adlib designed and installed a JBL VerTec PA system, with 10 flown VT4889 elements per side, complete with nine ground stacked VT4880As subs.

New for this year, they ran the subs in cardioid mode, with two stacks of two cabinets pointing forward and one in the middle facing back, which helped spread the general coverage and concentrate

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UK - PZ Cussons, the multi-national consumer goods company, has relocated from its base in Stockport to a new 40,000sq.ft headquarters on the Manchester Business Park.

The company was looking to create an impressive entrance to the new flagship site, which boasts an imposing atrium. This has been provided with the first European installation of Christie's MicroTiles media display.

The installation was carried out by Lancashire-based Pure Audio Visual under the supervision of divisional director Alan Marshall.

"As the atrium was glazed on two sides this presented a conundrum," said Marshall. "Initially we considered projectors - but then I had a meeting with Joe Graziano, [Christie's market development manager for MicroTiles ] and he told me about this new product."

Ged Bithell, PZ Cussons' head of IT international and Chris Colesell, head of IT UK, atte

Details
UK - Harsco Infrastructure's events team provided 21,475 temporary grandstand seats for The Open Golf Championship held at St Andrews from 15-18 July. Harsco Infrastructure is the new name for SGB Eventlink, which has supplied seating systems for use at the The Open since 1988.

There were 25 grandstands in total around the golf course, in locations chosen to provide optimum views of the event. The type and seating capacity of each grandstand varied depending on location, ground conditions, seating required and wind loading.

The seating system is designed to comply with the relevant British standards and codes of practice and causes minimum disturbance to grass and other sensitive ground areas, says the company.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - MTR has introduced the next product in the stageClix family, the stageClix 'Pack', a belt-pack version of the 'Jack' digital wireless system from Holland.

The 'Pack' continues to provide all the features of the 'Jack' for which stageClix is already well known. These include rechargeable NIMH batteries, receiver with a built

in charger, 15 hours playing time on one charge, no menus, no compander, a frequency response of 10Hz-20kHz ±3db, 24 bit digital converters, no audible latency (2.4 ms), twelve user selectable channels, encoded transmission, and unique triple-diversity, 3 frequency transmission in each of the 12 channels simultaneously.

And like the 'Jack', the 'Pack' operates in the 2.4GHz band, legal throughout the EU and beyond, and completely sidestepping the government frequency sell-off problem.

The 'Pack' transmitter has two inputs: a 3.5mm high impedance j

Details
UK - The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2010, a bold geometric structure designed by Jean Nouvel, has opened to the public.

The main build contractor, was Stage One. The company was responsible for the manufacture and installation of all the structural steelwork, flooring, a 12m high freestanding wall leaning at a 30º angle, central canopy area, seven metre high steel-framed glass cube section and bar/café areas - all in striking shades of red.

"We are honoured to have been asked to construct the prestigious Serpentine Gallery Pavilion for the second year running," said Mark Johnson, managing director, Stage One. Our involvement in the construction of the 2010 Pavilion, which required completely different manufacturing capabilities to the 2009 Pavilion, highlights the truly diverse range of skills and services we can offer to our clients.

The company worked cl

Details
UK - Black Light has announced the launch of a new course for professional

technicians working in the theatrical or events industries. The course, Rigging and Working at Height in the Entertainment Industry, is designed to provide the knowledge and practical guidance needed to work safely when rigging equipment high above a stage or auditorium.

Over three days, course attendees will learn from industry professionals and trained instructors on all aspects of safe working at height. Classroom-based theory, hands-on practical sessions and discussion groups are all part of the package which is aimed at keeping everyone involved and active throughout.

"Falls from height continue to be one of the biggest causes of workplace injury and death. Theatres and stages can be particularly hazardous places to work," says Black Light's technical manager Craig Collin. "

Details
Italy/Norway - Aethra.net and Videoworks AS a company with headquarters in Oslo, Norway, holding an OEM agreement with Sony Japan for Europe, have signed an agreement of exclusive distribution for the territory of Italy.

"We are extremely proud of this agreement which will further strengthen the position of Aethra.net and its partners in the Italian market," said Luigi Astoirii MD of aethra.net. "The distribution of Videoworks videoconferencing products based on Sony technology creates an absolutely different value proposition in the market."

Along with the products , Aethra.net will be able to render a number of converged services including multi-video conferencing in hosted and managed modes and

webcasting, audio conferencing, room design and installation.

"Adding Aethra.net as a partner for Videoworks brings great value with their deep knowledge

Details
South Africa - Ministry of illusion's work featured strongly in the 2010 World Cup closing ceremony. Contracted by the VWV Group, the ceremony's producer, MOI was mandated with conceptualising and delivering on all aspects of the digital effects and post production for the World Cup closing event.

"Being invited to join the conceptualisation phase of the ceremony gave us creative licence; it also meant our team got to work with some of the best brains in our industry. There were a large number of elements to our work, but it seems the real crowd pleasers were the watering hole, the marimba, and the newspaper," said Gerd Müller, MD of Ministry of illusion.

The animation software used by MOI for the entire project was 3D Maya and Autodesk Flint and was rendered using Quicktime Animations at 50p (50 frames per second). It included the compositing o

Details
USA - Martin Professional's new M1 lighting controller was recently used to control a large LED lighting system for Independence Eve, a patriotic concert celebration held in Denver, Colorado's historic Civic Centre Park.

Full service LED lighting company Blazen Illuminations of Loveland, Colorado produced the lighting for the event. Blazen owner Nate Webb, who served as lighting designer, commented on the new console, "The M1 performed flawlessly and made it possible to do this event without all of the heavy lifting. Setting up the console took about two minutes and we were up and running."

Webb continued, "The M1 has all the great controls of the bigger consoles but without the heavy motorized faders. There was no learning curve from the Maxxyz to the M1, it's all there. The standard 10 cuelist faders and the 12 playback faders make it easy to control an

Details
Canada - Now in its 23rd year, the Toronto Jazz Festival has grown from an ambitious upstart to become one of the world's premier jazz events, attracting some 500,000 visitors annually for 10 days of music that features jazz legends and newcomers, and even well-known musicians of other jazz-inspired genres.

This year's festival brought Maceo Parker, Herbie Hancock, and Harry Connick, Jr., as well as The Roots, Taj Mahal, Chaka Khan, and Macy Gray to the largest city in Canada. To accommodate all of the acts at the 1,200-seat Nathan Phillip Square main stage and the demands of their engineers, FOH guru Brad Mulligan set up the new Innovason Eclipse digital console to have a predictable 'analogue' topology.

For almost all of the engineers, it was their introduction to Innovason's M.A.R.S. integrated multitrack recording system, which allowed them to record portions of the soundc

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