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USA - The second leg of Martin Professional's 2011Engineered for the Eye Road Show tour kicks off in August in Atlanta and will continue until mid-December, visiting virtually every corner of the US with several stops in Canada.

The first leg of the 2011 Road Show, which wrapped up in June saw Martin hold 100 local events in 34 cities. Leg two is expected to hold an additional 70 events in 40 cities. The 2011 Road Show is expected to have logged an astounding 38,000 miles before year's end.

Leg two is as ambitious as ever with a custom Road Show trailer that is being updated with the latest Martin offerings. Joining a full range of lighting, video and control products will be new EC-10 LED panels and all new LED moving heads, as well as new LED luminaires in Martin's Exte

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UK - The Zombies, currently celebrating its 50thanniversary with a critically-acclaimed new album continue to tour - with a Yamaha LS9 ensuring that the sound is anything but zombie-like.

The past half century hasn't always been an easy time for The Zombies, but the famously wistful vocals of Colin Blunstone and keyboard / songwriting wizardryof Rod Argent have been a constant in the music industry, whether within the band context or on solo projects. For the past decade Blunstone and Argent have again been working under the Zombies banner, the line-up completed by guitarist Tom Toomey and father-and-son rhythm section, Jim and Steve Rodford.

With a world tour in the offing, the band's front of house engineer Dale Hanson has settled on the Yamaha LS9-32 as his console of choice, thanks to its compact size but comprehensive facilities.

"I got to know the LS9-32 by seeing

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UK - Series Two of BBC One's hit show So You Think You Can Dance concluded another successful season this month. Pushed to the limit for eight weeks, the four finalists and the set lighting proved impressive, dependable, and resilient to the very end.

Four ultra-bright Solaris Quasar 15K strobes provided visual punch over the entire season. "The Solaris strobes performed flawlessly for the entire run," says lighting designer Mark Kenyon. "Their tremendous brightness, even field, and surprisingly long constant-on time gives me a new and effective creative tool. They allow me to create a visual impact the audience can feel."

Mark Kenyon's TV credits include The X Factor, Push the Button, The Eurovision Song Contest, The Brit Awards, The BAFTA Television & Film Awards, Children in Need, Comic Relief, and

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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 - A plethora of Midas digital consoles were again used across the Glastonbury festival this year, as RG Jones supplied XL4s with XL88 matrix mixer at FOH for the Pyramid stage, where they were used by acts including BB King, Wu-Tang Clan and Plan B. Many of the other acts on the Pyramid stage chose to bring their own Midas digital desks with them, including Biffy Clyro, Paolo Nutini, Morrissey and Pendulum.

On the Other Stage, Skan was also using its tried and trusted formula of two XL4s at FOH and two H3000s on stage. One of South West Audio's PRO6s was being used at FOH at The Park Stage as usual, where among the acts to play were Pulp and Radiohead, in secret appearances that The Park has become known for.

Marcus Dalmeida and Jerey Denning were running FOH for South West Audio at The Park. "We ran a system of writing patches in the offline editor in real time at FOH

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Israel - Blackburn UK based lighting rental company HSL supplied all stage lighting equipment for the Israeli Opera & Les Choragies d'Orange in France's production of Aida, staged in a purpose built amphitheatre at the foot of Masada Mountain at The Dead Sea in Israel.

It was the second year running that HSL has been involved in the event, working for The Design Group, Israeli based technical production suppliers, who co-ordinated all production elements. The Design Group also built the massive venue in the middle of the desert for the 2010 launch of the brand new Dead Sea & Jerusalem Opera Festival, which featured Verdi's Nabucco.

Four containers of lighting kit were dispatched by sea freight from the UK and one by road for the production, which featured a creative stage and Mountain lighting design by Avi Yono Bueno (Bambi). HSL's crew chief on site was Ian Ste

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UK - It was an emotional time for many last week when Blue Peter filmed its last show from BBC Television Centre. Britain's Got Talent winners Diversity were in the mix with arguably one of the biggest rigs in the show's history.

Back in December, Richard Martin Lighting purchased 100 Clay Paky Sharpys. Lighting designer Lee Allen, who is continuously striving to bring a fresh and energetic look to the ever more contemporary show, used 50 of them on Diversity's performance to bring "a very strong statement look to the urban dance troupe".

"The light output from such a small package is amazing," says Allen. "The fast speed of movement was breathtaking. The lamps were small and discrete enough not to draw the eye in the set, but the event they produced was gigantic."

Blue Peter is now being filmed from Media City, Salford.

(

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UAE - Melody House, distributors of HK Audio speaker systems have recently supplied the Pavilion Downtown Dubai with the new Elements speaker system.

The venue is Dubai's latest dedicated non-profit contemporary art space providing a place to view, discuss and participate in works by local and international artists. It boasts two art galleries, a restaurant, a library, an espresso bar, a shisha café and lounge plus a cinema where the Elements system is utilised.

"The Pavilion originally approached local consultants Lightbox Professionals for a complete AV design and solution," commented Dino Drimakis, business development manager at Melody House. "After both the consultant and client experienced the Elements, they knew it was the right solution. Elements is the perfect fit as it is modular, scalable and provides a great sound at an unbelievable price poin

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South Africa - The Sport Awards Gauteng was broadcast live from Emperors Palace on Supersport 4 on 23 June 2011. An initiative of the Gauteng Province Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, the event is designed to celebrate excellence and to inspire the South African youth.

Wayne Sproule of Pendragon Dezign was the production designer. Sproule had a spec from the client that gold was to be the main theme, and got the recipe just right: his glamorous set worked exceptionally well as a canvas for colour washes from Nic Michaletos' lighting design.

The services of MGG Productions were called in to provide the intelligent lighting, with MGG's Kevin Rieck hands-on as the lighting programmer on a grandMA. It was the first time Rieck had worked in a theatre production of this calibre. "It was a great responsibility and I was as scared as hell!" he said. "Nic Michaletos

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USA - For over 25 years, Studio One Dance Theatre (SODT) has been an inspirational force in Chicago, providing not only technical dance training, but empowering young people to unleash their creativity and self-esteem so they can succeed in all aspects of life. Every June, some 400 SODT dancers, who range in age from pre-school to their 20s, put their talents on display in a spectacular theatrical production held at the 1,200-seat Centre for Performing Arts at Governors State University.

Jason Reberski of JR Lighting Design, Inc. (Orland Park, IL), who has designed and programmed the lighting for the SODT show since 2008, found a new star to dance with this year: the Design Spot 1200C DMX moving head from Elation Professional.

Reberski included seven Design Spot 1200Cs in his moving light rig, which also contained eight moving heads from another manufacturer that were original

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Italy - Robe Robin LEDWash 600 moving lights are appearing onstage with Italian superstar Vasco Rossi, as part of a spectacular lighting and scenic video design by leading Italian visuals designer, Giovanni Pinna, for Rossi's Live Kom 011 stadium tour.

Pinna has been working with the artist - a prolific singer/songwriter, often controversial and the most popular live performer in Italy, for the last 20 years, each time coming up with a new, fresh and completely different look and feel to the stage and setting.

This time his dynamic 37m high, three-level, portrait format architectural set structure was based around the concept of 'verticality' designed by GioForma Set design studio. It included large quantities of scenic LED panels, some of which were moved on a Cyberhoist system and a large lighting rig, of which an integral element was the 24 Robe Robin LEDWash 600s.

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UK - Crestron has announced the appointment of Brian Chapman as director of international hospitality.

"I am extremely happy to have joined such an accomplished team such as Crestron," says Chapman. "The breadth of knowledge I've built throughout my career has been invaluable and I am looking forward to being able to continue this at Crestron. The opportunity to work at the forefront of this industry is a privilege I do not take lightly."

As Director of International Hospitality, Chapman will be heading up a team who deal with hotels, MDU, gated communities and mixed development projects.

"At Crestron we invest a great deal of time, money and resources into producing groundbreaking control solutions and we need the right people working with us to reflect this," says Robin van Meeuwen, VP of sales and marketing for Crestron International. "B

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UK - PLASA Events Ltd, organisers of PLASA 2011 (11-14 September, Earls Court, London) have announced the launch of this year's PLASA Awards for Innovation, which this year will include the newly named Sustainability Award - and of the 2011 Gottelier Award nomination process.

The PLASA Awards for Innovation always draw a great deal of interest from visitors to the PLASA Show, who can view all of the nominees in the specially designed 'Innovation Gallery', which will this year again be situated near the Earls Court 2 entrance to the Show. Independently judged by a panel of industry experts from lighting, audio, video and rigging & staging specialist backgrounds, the PLASA Awards for Innovation are one of the most prestigious product Awards in the business. The judges will again have eight product awards at their disposal, with the option to award a 'Gold' to a product or products

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UAE - Nicolas Kyvernitis Electronics Enterprises, distribution centre for Shure in the Gulf has recently supplied Dubai based rental systems integration firm AVI-SPL with wireless microphone systems.

The deal includes receivers and transmitters from the top of the line UHF-R series. AVI-SPL have purchased four sets of the new UR4D+ receiver, which allows them to cascade up to 10 units without the use of an antenna distribution system.

"AVI-SPL are a well-known AV systems integration company in the US, they have expanded their presence in the Middle East with a dedicated office in Dubai," commented Shajahan K K, Shure product manager. "Already we have seen them complete a number of prestigious projects around the region using products from Shure."

(Jim Evans)

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Royal Report - Prince has played his first UK festival, with a two-and-a-quarter-hour set at the Hop Farm Festival in rural Kent. The 53-year-old star came back for three encores in what was his first open-air gig in England since 1993, despite years of Glastonbury rumours. "I wish there wasn't no such thing as a curfew. Parties are supposed to go on 'til everyone's asleep," he announced. Prince now goes on to play a number of festivals across Europe, including Belgium's Sint-Puetersplein and Ireland's Malahide Castle on 30 July.

Human Rights - Sting has cancelled a concert in Kazakhstan's capital Astana over claims of human rights violations on oil workers in the Central Asian country. In a statement on his website, the singer axed Monday's planned show after Amnesty International told him of "the repression and crackdown" against them. The singer sai

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UK - The newly developed MAUI 28 from LD Systems is billed as a compact, active and modular 'all-in-one' system.

It is designed for use by r musicians and DJs as well as for presentations and events with sophisticated music playback. Because no cables and stands are required, this 'plug-and-play' system can be quickly and easily set up and dismantled, says the company.

Andrew Richardson, managing director of Adam Hall UK, comments, "With its outstanding features, the exciting new Maui 28 is sure to be a winning solution for all performers. It is extremely portable and given its amazing price, represents one of the most exciting products we have released to date.

"Frequency-response-based 4.1 five-way amping results in a clear, dynamic and balanced sound throughout the frequency range of this system. The array configuration ensures greater coverage with well-balance

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Germany - The new, purpose-built MDR high definition television studio in Erfurt, where programmes for the popular children's channel Kika are filmed, has upgraded its lighting system to feature 28 ADB ALC4 multipurpose modular luminaires in the role of asymmetrical cyclorama lights.

A new studio and the show's switch to HD entailed a new concept in lighting. Camera operators at the 600sq.m studio at MDR's headquarters laid down a stringent specification for lighting the huge cyclorama - which has a curved base with a 1m radius that merges smoothly with the floor to avoid a hard lighting transition. This stipulated a maximum variation in lighting of +/- 70 lux across the cyclorama, within the cameras' operating range on Kika of between 300 and 500 lux.

Thomas Jacobs of ADB Germany, which supplied the new luminaires to MDR, said, "The existing facilities, with 90 kilowatts

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USA - Audinate has announced that Ed Ellett has joined Audinate's Technical Advisory Board (TAB).. As a member of the TAB, Ellett will advise Audinate on strategic market trends and consult with senior management on Audinate's R&D programs and product road maps.

Ed Ellett has an extensive career in various senior leadership positions with major information technology companies. His career spans over 30 years ago with other leading companies including Polycom, AMD, IBM, Dell, Digital Equipment Corporation, Cyrix Corp. and Compaq Computer Corporation.

"Audinate's Technical Advisory board comprise a sterling group of diverse experts with extensive background in A/V systems", says Aidan Williams, Audinate's CTO. "We are thrilled to have this opportunity to benefit from Ed's significant experience in developing strategies for global IT companies."

(Jim Evans)

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UK / Colombia - Le Mark, the UK-based supplier of specialist tapes, labels, flooring and other accessories to the entertainment industry, has announced the formation of a new venture in Colombia.

Le Mark's managing director Stuart Gibbons recently visited the country, primarily to introduce Le Mark's acclaimed Manero Ultra Lite portable 'floating' dance floor to the South American market. "However, Colombian clients were extremely enthusiastic about the full range of both self-adhesive StudioTak and our excellent portable vinyl performance floors," says Gibbons.

While there, Gibbons had the opportunity to spend time working with Claudia Pava Davila and was impressed by her sales and marketing abilities. It quickly became obvious to Gibbons that Claudia had developed an excellent relationship with potential television and production company clients based in Colombia's

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UK / Thailand - Green Hippo continues extending its reach in Asia with the appointment of Fuzion Far East as its exclusive distributor in Thailand.

FFE has worked successfully with Hippotizer media servers in the past, with high-profile events including the national university games, the 2011 New Year's Eve Party 'Let's Celebrate' at Central Chidlom and 100 Years of Wachiravudth School (King's College).

Fuzion Far East Ltd is based in Bangkok, geographically well placed to service Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia and is a leader in supplying professional distribution services.

Supporting system integrators in providing solutions to extensive audio-visual set-ups, they represent brands such as DiGiCo, Nexo and Coemar amongst others, alongside Hippotizer.

FFE facilitates an extensive variety of projects and works within an array of different sectors, including nightclubs

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Canada - CAST Software of Toronto has announced the release of wysiwyg R27, for members only, on 11 July 2011.

New features include: Beam optimization - lights respond 5X faster, keeping up with how fast you work; Native Art-Net connectivity: receive and render realtime DMX data over Art-Net directly into wysiwyg; Improved Attribute Layout: speed up your plotting and designing process; New Image Manager: Easier and faster browsing through images and textures.

As with every release, wysiwyg takes the new features and improvements from the previous release and brings them to the next level, says the company. R27 is no exception.

With the 3D mouse users can pan, zoom and rotate as if they're holding the model in their hand. Users can also operate cameras with this new powerful addition to wysiwyg, focus conventional fixtures, and create amazing flybys as well as switch camera v

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UK - The new Linlithgow Burgh Halls has reopened its doors after a two year refurbishment project. Audio Light Systems have installed the full technical infrastructure, audio and lighting systems in the venue's two new performance spaces.

Strand Wallracks with Accent controllers have been installed for production and architectural lighting. "The Strand Wallrack is a great dimmer, it's just very reliable and simple to use" comments Steve Aitchison, project engineer.

Elsewhere, QSC Acoustic Design speakers and PLX amps are the backbone of the audio systems with Ampetronic low spill and cancellation induction loops providing the hearing assistive systems.

(Claire Beeson)

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