UK - City Theatrical had record breaking attendance at its stand at PLASA 2012 caused by the great buzz on the show floor about SHoW DMX Neo and SHoW DMX SHoW Baby. These two products are the latest innovations in City Theatrical's 10 years of wireless DMX development and manufacturing.

SHoW DMX Neo features the high data fidelity that the multi-award winning SHoW DMX is noted for, as well as fast 7mS latency, ensuring that wired and wireless DMX sources will appear exactly alike on a production. The extensive on board user interface that professionals prefer allows optimized control over output power, full or limited bandwidth broadcast, and the ability to broadcast less than the full DMX packet to shrink the radio "footprint".

For the users who do not want to manuall

UK - LumenRadio announced their support for Art-Net 3, the latest release of the public domain Ethernet protocol from Artistic Licence Engineering. As of PLASA 2011, Art-Net 3 will be supported in all of LumenRadio's Ethernet enabled products.

Art-Net is supported by 200-plus international manufacturers, and is one of the protocols of choice in LumenRadio's smart and adaptive CRMXTM wireless lighting control system.

"By upgrading to Art-Net 3, we can be confident our products stay way ahead of the data demand curve," explains LumenRadio's Senior R&D Engineer, Michael Karlsson. "For example, one particular project that I recall used a single network to control a media server and distribute its output to a LED wall. Such a set-up could easily break the limit of many of the Ethernet protocols in common use today."

Wayne Howell, technical director of Artistic

UK - GDS has reported "phenomenal success" at this year's PLASA show held at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre. GDS reported a high footfall over the four day event with particular interest being paid to the newest addition to the successful LiteWare Range, LiteWare Satellite and the new ArcSystem, LED Auditorium Lighting System.

Sunday saw the eagerly awaited launch of the LiteWare Satellite, following a successful teaser ad campaign customers flocked to the GDS stand to see its latest offerings. LiteWare Satellite is the newest member of the LiteWare family and provides a completely flexible new way of thinking for battery based Luminaries, it incorporates a remote, fully adjustable head offering 360 degree pan and 180 degree tilt.

Monday and Tuesday continued to deliver success for GDS with ArcSystem winning an unprecedented three awards; the PLASA Award for Innov

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Read more about the Indochine tour in the latest issue of LSi

UK - Formula Sound has announced the appointment of CUK Audio as exclusive distributor of Formula Sound products in the UK and Eire. CUK Audio will be an integral part of the brand development programme recently put in place by the management of Formula Sound with new product releases, a new marketing and PR package and an expansion of their international business.

Stuart Thomson, MD of CUK Audio commented, "Formula Sound is a highly respected, technically innovative brand which complements our existing portfolio and expands our capability as a complete system provider in the market sectors we serve. The products are well known for their outstanding audio quality and reliability and we believe that we can add value and enhance sales by providing the first class technical back up and support that is the foundation of CUK Audio's business."

Devshi Gami from Formula Sou

UK - M-Sport, the organisation chosen by the Ford Motor Company to mastermind the assault on the World Rally Championship, recently commissioned Litestructures (Prolyte Group's brand team dedicated to custom projects) to design and manufacture a modular touring infrastructure centre.

The Litestructures team fully designed, built and kitted out the structure, which includes a full size, fully fitted catering kitchen, toilets, air-conditioning and an integrated AV system. The structure had to be portable to allow transportation between events, but equally, as a key part of the company's branding, it had to have outstanding visual impact.

A clear requisite was that every area had a solid quality, giving an almost permanent feel, whilst the deployment should be restricted to three days for a crew of no more than eight operatives.

When fully assembled, the structure measures 16m

UAE - Ferry Corsten, voted as one of the top 10 DJs in the world over the past decade, recently played live at the Dubai World Trade Centre to an audience of thousands with a set of Sennheiser HD 25 Originals at his side.

"Ferry Corsten treated music fans to an enthralling set. The HD 25 Originals were a perfect match for the event, proving once again that they are a real standard for professional DJs with their mix of high SPL, excellent sound quality, superb noise-isolation and unrivalled comfort, ensuring that Ferry Corsten's show was not only flawless, but truly mesmerizing," commented Mig Cardamone, business area manager at Sennheiser Middle East.

Supporting the techno-house DJ at the event were Radio 1's Greg Stainer and Real Events' Marky Marc. As well as supporting the DJ's at the event, Sennheiser had some active listening stations for the revellers who atte

UK - Midas digital fan Ian Bond, owner of Midas PRO6 serial number 007, has become one of the first clients to purchase both a PRO2 and a PRO2C live audio system.

Bond has purchased one each of the new Midas digital models for his rental company, IPB Audio. "I initially saw some drawings, and as usual, gave my feedback to (designer) Alex Cooper," he says. "One of the great things about Midas is that they always listen to people's opinions. The price of the PRO2 means that there's going to be a lot of people who can afford to have a Midas digital console and, importantly for me, people who can now afford to rent it. They can now have the same sound as an XL8 for a lot less money. It's going to shake things up a bit."

Bond has used his PRO6 extensively on FOH for Porcupine Tree, so it's fitting that the first job for the PRO2 is a solo tour with the band's gu

Poll Toppers - Coldplay have been voted the best festival headliner of 2011, in an online poll conducted by BBC 6 Music. The band - who headlined Glastonbury and T In The Park - topped the survey with 22.7% of votes cast, breakfast show host Shaun Keaveny announced. US rock band The National came in second with 14.2%, while Muse were third with 13.9%.

Coldplay's drummer Will Champion told 6 Music playing festivals gave the band "a chance to win people over". He added, "There's also a strong possibility that people have already made their mind up about you - and no matter how well you play they're not going to be happy about it." Glastonbury, which also saw U2 and Beyonce play headline slots in June, is taking a fallow year in 2012.

In The Saleroom - The Beatles showed their support for the US civil rights movement by refusing to play in front of segr

USA - McCoy-Rigby's recently-launched national tour of Peter Pan hit the road with all-new lighting rig, supplied by Pacific Coast Entertainment (Huntington Beach, CA).

Working with the show's lighting designer Michael Gilliam, PCE put together a complement of automated spot, wash and specialty fixtures that included Elation Professional's DesignWash 1400E 1,200-watt DMX moving head wash and Power Spot 700 CMY-II 700-watt DMX moving head spot.

The tour, which will run through 2013, marks a reprisal of the production, starring Tony Award-nominee Cathy Rigby in the title role of this classic tale about a boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up. Olympic gymnast-turned-actor Rigby, who co-owns the production company with her husband Tom McCoy, has been playing Peter Pan since the early 1990s.

"This show is a juggernaut," said PCE's Ryan Steidinger. &quo

UK - When ETC introduced its iRFR (Radio Focus Remote for iPhone and iPod Touch) two years ago, Luke Delwiche from ETC Tech Services in London suggested that the profits be shared between Light Relief and its US equivalent, Behind the Scenes. Little did his bosses realise just how much this would amount to.

At PLASA 2011, Delwiche presented Light Relief trustee Rick Fisher with a cheque for £12,458, collected over the previous 12 months. A similar amount of money will be presented to Behind the Scenes at the LDI show in October this year. These two cheques bring the total raised by the sale of the iRFR application to a staggering $86,000.

Delwiche was obviously delighted that his idea has paid off so handsomely, while CEO Fred Foster said,"One of the nicest aspects is that each individual who has found our iRFR to be a useful tool has helped raise this money. Chris

USA - Cold rain didn't dampen the spirits of the 60,000-person crowd who came to enjoy the free 15 September concert, Andrea Bocelli - Live in Central Park. But the 55-acre Great Lawn left many at a distance from the stage. So Pete's Big TVs was hired to bring the action up close to the masses via their video equipment.

Pete's Big TVs provided upstage projection and video screens on six delay towers. Two Christie Roadster HD30+ projectors provided upstage projection. A ton of fibre optic cables fed the video signals to the six delay towers, outfitted with six video screens, which provided up-close views of the action for the crowds throughout the Great Lawn. The delay screens were created from 610 high resolution flex LED panels - a mix of 15mm and 20mm screens. Though it rained steadily, the equipment performed flawlessly as it was designed for outdoor operation.

Worki

France - In a transaction made official on 5 September 2011, Digigram has formally acquired Ecrin Video & Broadcast, a division of Ecrin Systems based in Crolles near Grenoble, France. The move heralds Digigram's entry into the video market with the acquisition of Ecrin V&B's product portfolio and the specialized team behind it, who will be integrated into the Digigram team at Digigram's HQ in Montbonnot, also near Grenoble.

Ecrin Video & Broadcast is a designer and manufacturer of professional video compression solutions to transport video content over IP. Supporting all standards for broadcast, IPTV, WebTV and Telco operations, from HD to low bit rate formats, Ecrin V&B's streaming encoder, decoder, transcoder and archiving systems are designed to be the bridge between video media and the IP world.

"The acquisition of Ecrin Video & Broadcast which opens the door for Dig

UK - Crestron has appointed Phil Breitschadel to the position of UK sales manager. Working out of the UK headquarters in Cobham, he will lead the UK's residential and commercial sales teams to help grow and develop new business, and expanding its product sales to all vertical markets. His previous position was with Verrex Ltd, a global AV integrator with offices in the USA, Asia and Europe.

"I'm really looking forward to Phil joining the Crestron team, where he can devote his considerable sales and strategic talents to meeting our business objectives," says Robin van Meeuwen, UK managing director and VP of international sales at Crestron. "As our head of UK sales, UK integrators and end-users will be well served by Phil's long-standing commitment to sales growth that can only translate into mutual business success."

"This is a fantastic opportunity for

UK - Yorkshire based digital system designers, 53 Degrees Ltd, have recently installed the first UK video wall using a new eco friendly video wall product launched earlier this year by Samsung. The video wall was installed at the Timberland Flagship store within the newly opened Westfield Stratford City shopping centre in East London.

The International apparel retailer, turned to the Leeds based company to help fulfill the brief that was to "bring the Timberland concept store to life through an engaging and emotional approach".

The giant video wall using the new Samsung screens, measuring 6.2m x 3.5m (36 x 46" screens), designed and installed by the company plays an integral part of the new Daiziel & Pow designed store and is used to showcase the latest seasonal outdoor experience stories. The large display screen takes centre stage on a recessed bulkhead at the

UK - Professional loudspeaker company, EM Acoustics has appointed Dave Kelland to the position of UK sales manager. A highly experienced audio professional and already very familiar with EM Acoustics, Kelland's appointment heralds an exciting period of growth for EM Acoustics, says the company.

Kelland will be responsible for establishing, developing and maintaining EM Acoustics' growing UK business, in particular strengthening the company's dealer network as well as increasing penetration into the rental market.

"We are thrilled to have David come on board with us," says Mike Wheeler, operations director for EM Acoustics. "David has been a firm supporter of EM Acoustics since the beginning - in fact, his company, Kelco, was our very first UK dealer in 2003. We were very fortunate in that David was in a position to join us at the time we were looking for a sales

Belgium - Genelec has announced the appointment of Apex n.v. as its new distributor for professional monitoring equipment in Belgium and Luxemburg. The new partnership was officially launched at IBC 2011 in Amsterdam.

"We are delighted to welcome Apex to our distribution network," says Jarmo Masko, area sales manager at Genelec. "For a while, we have been looking for a strong player with roots in professional audio that can also effectively serve the important broadcast market and the MI dealer network. Apex fits the bill perfectly. They have an excellent track record in all these markets and understand the demands of working in Belgium where the language and cultural differences can make it difficult for an outsider to penetrate."

Headed up by Paul van Hees MD and RikHoerée, sales director, Apex numbers 20 staff, whose skills combine technical exper

UK - Robe lighting enjoyed an "Awesome" PLASA 2011 exhibition at Earls Court in London, combining flair, innovation and action with many highlights including the showcasing of new products, plus the launch of the Robin DLX Spot - the world's first RGBW LED based moving head, and the Robin 1200 LEDWash, the latter to complement the existing popular LEDWash 300 and 600 units. There was also a special preview of the Robin Sniper concept.

The stand was busy constantly for all four days of the show, with major interest in the new launches as well as the Robin MMX Spot - the first in the next generation of 'workhorse' 1200 series fixtures - and the ROBIN 300 and 600 Spot, Wash and Beam ranges.

All of these reinforce Robe's ongoing and future commitment to producing smaller, lighter and brighter and genuinely more environmentally conscious technology.

Another major featur

South Africa - Loudspeaker manufacturer HK Audio continues to make inroads into the South African event and sound market.

South Africa's only independent Vehicle Sales Academy, Innermation, has invested in the HK Audio Elements speaker system which was supplied by authorised dealer The Sound Shop.

"We were looking for a scalable system that would suit the multimedia needs in our lecture rooms, with the ability of then matching the components together to form one large system for our road shows," commented Stefan Vermaak, founder and head of Innermation.

"After doing some research I discovered the HK Audio Elements system, which suits our requirements to a tee. The coverage and sound clarity that you get from the Elements system is astounding - better than many systems I have previously worked with."

"The folk at Innermation were totally impressed w

UK - Flightcase manufacturer, 5 Star Cases, celebrating its 30th anniversary year in 2011, enjoyed another very busy PLASA Light & Sound Show at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London.

5 Star's MD Keith Sykes says, "All our shown products were well received, and we received plenty of inquiries as well as finalising some deals during the four days. PLASA is definitely the UK's premier entertainment technology trade show, and once again we saw a good cross section of new contacts as well as existing clients, and generally experienced high visitor quality."

On display was a selection of 5 Star's custom designed and standard case ranges, including a special edition 'Eurotrucker' road trunk, featuring an eye-catching digitally printed 'wrap', which was applied to the exterior and visible on all sides including the bottom.

Also highlighted at the exhibition was a new 'r

Italy - Presented in the Italian cave Grotte di Castellana, Hell in the Cave depicts anguished residents of the tragic underworld in Dante's epic poem Inferno. Rather than using a single stage, the creators of the show take the unorthodox approach to bring the audience through scenes in separate grottoes.

While visitors enjoy an immersive dramatic experience, the equipment supporting the presentation must endure a hostile environment through a long subterranean performance season. The sound designer chose a reinforcement system of 14 Meyer Sound self-powered loudspeakers.

"The biggest challenge inside the cave is the humidity, which is always close to 90%, combined with rapid temperature changes that result from the large opening in the roof," explains Giuseppe Saponari, sound designer for the production and president of Officina Musicale. "Yet des

UK - London-based lighting rental specialist Colour Sound Experiment (CSE) supplied lighting to the main stage and four other areas - Swamp Shack, Wishing Tree, Rizla and The Production Office - at the 2011 Bestival festival on the Isle of Wight.

Bestival is a truly eclectic and eccentric universe of entertainment, fun, sociality, music and live performance - from psyco-chic afternoon teas to Bollywood, wooded grottos, numerous fantasy worlds, banging dance environments and a diverse main stage live line up, this year headlined by Pendulum, The Cure and Bjork. There is something for everyone of all ages and tastes at one of the final events on the UK festival calendar, staged in the fabulous grounds of Robin Hill Country Park curated by BBC Radio 1's Rob Da Bank.

For Colour Sound, it topped off a super-hyperactive festival season, with lighting, scenic LED screens and crew sup

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