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UK - Utopium supplied lighting for the BBC at this year's 24 day Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 2- 26 August 2013.

The Edinburgh Fringe is renowned for being the largest arts festival in the world, show producers, ACP Productions Ltd, commissioned Utopium to supply lighting rig for the BBC stage as well as outside screen supports and entrance way arches for its festival garden.

The festival showcases multitudes of talent from big name artists, such as comedians Ed Byrne and Dara O'Briain alongside complete unknowns who perform live from various stages around Scotland's capital city. The BBC stage was used as the hub for radio stations to broadcast live from the festival, which included Radio 1 DJs Phil Taggart and Alice Levine, the Today show and Just a Minute.

To cr

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UK - A new product has been designed, manufactured and launched in the UK to "totally transform the way stage and set backdrops are created, representing substantial savings on crew and transport costs".

LIGHTset, which has worldwide patents pending, is the brainchild of Kent-based Prominence Production Services Ltd and is an 'all-in-one', fabric set solution which combines 3D printed images, creative lighting and crisp front or rear projection. Comprising a specially developed, polyester fabric substrate with a patented coating, LIGHTset enables set images to be printed directly onto fabric whilst the luminescence of the material gives the freedom to light a set from the front and rear simultaneously, with excellent definition.

"After spending 20 years designing, building, loading and unloading sets and stages around the world, I was determined to create an alt

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USA - Following an extensive nine-month, $10.5m renovation project, the Civic Theatre, the oldest surviving theatre building in New Orleans, has officially reopened its doors after sitting dormant for more than three decades. To bring the 107-year-old, 15,000sq.ft performance venue up to today's production standards, Solomon Group, a new L-Acoustics certified provider for install and rental markets, specified and integrated a Kiva-Kilo loudspeaker system into the space.

Recently partnering with The Bowery Presents, one of the country's preeminent promoters for both emerging and established artists, the intimate 1,150-capacity Civic begins hosting a wide variety of touring acts starting in September, including Russell Brand, The Black Crowes, Passion Pit, Steve Earle, John Waters and many others. Solomon Group - one of the Civic's three partners, along with developers Brian Gibbs

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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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USA - The acclaimed Matilda The Musical packs the house at Broadway's Shubert Theatre while backstage a grandMA2 full-size controls the conventional and moving lights, scrollers, LEDs and video cues for Tony Award-winning lighting designer Hugh Vanstone.

Matilda The Musical, based on the novel by Roald Dahl, tells the story of an extraordinary girl who dreams about a better life and changing her destiny. It won Tony Awards for best book, featured actor, scenic design and lighting design and special Tony honours for the young actresses who portray Matilda; the show also netted Drama Desk and New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical. A Royal Shakespeare Company production, the show was transferred to Broadway after its West End London debut.

"It's the second time I've worked with Hugh Vanstone on a transfer from the West End," says lighting p

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UK - Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, first built in 1812 in the heart of London's West End, has recently completed a £4m restoration. A key component to restoring the historic venue's Grand Saloon Bar to its original regency-style décor was keeping the look and feel of the space as theatrical as possible.

Architect Norman Bragg and Theatre Royal's Steve McAndrew, the team responsible for illuminating the space, wanted to install efficient LED lighting to showcase the restored architectural elements, but it was imperative that the modern-day fixtures didn't distract from the 19th century style of the design.

Provided by lighting specialists Stage Electrics, who supplied a full architectural LED lighting solution into the theatre, Rosco's new Miro Cube LED fixtures were chosen because of their compact size and high light output.

"The bright output realised from th

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Sweden - Perennially popular Swedish pop-rock band Gyllene Tider (Golden Age) have been promoting their first album in nine years with a major tour of their home country.

In other countries Gyllene Tider are best known for lead singer Per Gessle being half of pop duo Roxette. In Sweden, however, they maintain massive popularity. Promoting new album Dags att tänka på refrängen (Time To Think Of The Chorus), the tour featured a DiGiCo SD10 at Front of House and an SD5 on monitors.

The consoles were supplied - along with DiGiCo SD-Racks, microphones and monitors - by rental company Soundforce Scandinavia AB. Anders Molund, the company's audio project manager, is also Gyllene Tider's FOH engineer.

"The SD5 was the first choice console for our monitor engineer Peter Fredriksson. To be honest, I used the SD10 because we are so busy at Soundforce it was the only DiGi

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UK - Students at Wakefield's Backstage Academy have gained hands-on experience with a variety of today's lighting technology thanks to the growing support from lighting professionals, manufacturers and rental companies.

There are 52 students currently studying the training academy's16-month Foundation Degree in Live Events Production, which was independently written in collaboration with industry practitioners, (validated by The University of Bolton) and places emphasis on practical experience.

The month-long Lighting Module teaches students about the theory and art of lighting, basic lighting design principles for different types of event, lighting equipment and systems, visualization and pre-programming, and includes WYSIWYG certification.

For the second annual degree course, Backstage Academy received more support from lighting manufacturers, resellers and rental companie

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UK - Birmingham-based sound and lighting production company DMX Productions supplied their new Robe Pointe moving lights for a high-profile one off concert by popular Nepalese Himalayan folk/rock band Nepathya, at London's Wembley Arena.

SJ Grevett of DMX Productions managed the show's production and the lighting/video design was overseen by Tom Grant, working on behalf of rental company Siyan Ltd. Siyan provided the rest of the lighting and rigging equipment, including Robe LEDWash 600s and MMX Spot fixtures.

Formed by three students studying in Kathmandu, Nepal in the early 1990s, Nepathya fuses folk melodies with new and exciting pop and rock tunes and formats and have consistently gained popularity and acclaim.

The starting point for the lighting designs was Nepathya's 2012 Australian tour. Some elements of this were replicated for this show, including three upstage/down

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USA - Following the success of their 2012 World Tour, the multi-award winning rock band Train once again hit the road in 2013 with Mermaids of Alcatraz. As their largest tour to date, the three-piece band wanted to have a completely new look. To complete this task, they once again entrusted lighting designer Brock Hogan to create a design that would push the boundaries of creativity and Hogan turned to long-time tour provider LMG Touring who supplied him with 16 Philips Vari-Lite VL3015LT Spot luminaires and 15 Showline SL BAR 640 LED luminaires.

"This tour is completely different from those of years past and it's a spinoff of their origins in San Francisco and their latest studio album California 37," began Hogan. "Since this was our largest tour to date, hitting all the major markets, we added a few new features such as video wall automation and a new set

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UK - West Midlands based technical solutions specialist Central Presentations Ltd (CPL) has launched a new broadcast division - CPL Broadcast - which is dedicated to supplying film and TV crews with equipment and technical packages specially tailored to a variety of studio, OB and location work.

CPL Broadcast is headed by Lee Gruszeckyj (Lee G) who joined the company last year with the new division in mind. Gruszeckyj has a wealth of experience in the world of broadcast and video, is highly respected in this area and has numerous contacts.

CPL's business has been steadily expanding over the last three years. CPL Broadcast is a related diversification specifically designed to fill and grow a healthy demand in the Midlands area for the appropriate camera, audio, lighting and grip equipment by those working on news shoots, promos and commercials.

The three key factors in establ

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Finland - The Finnish equivalent of 'roll up, roll up', doesn't really translate into English, but that aside the language of circus is nothing if not international; even the horses seem to understand. "Good point," said BonBon the clown, or Lasse NØrager as he's known to his family. "Communicating with animals is one of the most important things that happen under the big top. That's why we paid it so much attention when we considered purchasing a PA system for Sirkus Finlandia." NØrager, besides his talent for visual humour, doubles as technical advisor.

"I have been with the circus for 30 years. In Finland circus began to engage with modern lighting about 20 years ago, sound about 10 years later. I've been looking after the Sirkus audio system for the last four or five years. By profession I'm a performer, but I've worked with sound since

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Germany - Respected Berlin-based lighting designer Martin Kuhn has harnessed the punch and power of Clay Paky's bright, pure beam Sharpys, intense sparkling Alpha Spot QWO 800 STs, and Alpha Beam 700s for Berlin's Summer Rave 2013.

This is the fourth successful annual A&P Summer Rave, hosted by A&P Kaiser's Tengelmann and featuring some of Germany's biggest techno stars, including Westbam, AKA AKA Feat. Thalstroem, and Vitalic. Not only that it attracted 20,000 people who danced the night away until sunrise.

For the past three years the design of the event has been Kuhn's baby. 2013 saw an additional third floor increase the size of the event considerably. All in all I Kuhn took care of four floors: Planet Bass (Main Floor 1), Ostfunk (as important as the main floor), House Floor and the main hall with catering, wardrobe and chill out area.

He also created an electric atmosp

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UK - The 4th annual PLASA Rigging Conference will expand this year to focus on structures as well as rigging issues, bringing in experts from both fields to share their knowledge, experiences and advice. The PLASA Rigging Conference takes place on 7-8 October 2013 at its new home, ExCeL London, and visitors are encouraged to book their tickets before the end of August to take advantage of early booking discounts.

The keynote speech will be given by one of the rigging industry's leading and longest-serving practitioners, Robin Elias of Unusual Rigging, whose light-hearted account of his long career will act as a vehicle to illustrate the challenges and rewards of working as a rigger. Robin has worked on everything from rock and roll to installing works of art, TV stunts and the engineering for some of the largest objects moved in the name of entertainment, and his experiences are

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USA - To celebrate its 40th anniversary, the Telluride Film Festival will debut a new Werner Herzog Theatre for this year's festivities in the Colorado ski town. Movie screenings at this 650-seat theatre will be heard through a cinema system from Meyer Sound, which is a festival sponsor for the third consecutive year. The 2013 Telluride Film Festival is set to run 29 August - 2 September 2013.

"The Werner Herzog Theatre is a huge achievement for Telluride Film Festival and the town of Telluride. It will be the festival's most technologically advanced, and its sound system is of the utmost importance to us," says Julie Huntsinger, executive director of the festival. "Meyer Sound is a leader in its industry; its sound quality and innovation is unparalleled. Working with Meyer Sound ensures the festival meets its goal of staying on the cutting-edge, and ultimately gi

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USA - Bandit Lites wrapped another successful festival with The Forecastle Festival, a three-day event that began on 12 July and continued through 14 July.

Founded in 2002 by Louisville native JK McKnight and named for the superstructure at the bow of the ship where the crew is housed, the Forecastle Festival draws tens of thousands of fans to relax and unwind. Artists at this year's event included The Black Keys, The String Cheese Incident, Ole Crow Medicine Show, Big Boi, The Flaming Lips, Alabama Shakes, The Avett Brothers, Robert Plant and Grace Potter & The Nocturnals.

Bandit Lites worked with Hadden Hipsley of Lambda Productions to provide a festival lighting package to three stages, including the main stage where The Black Keys finished their 16 month tour under a Bandit supplied rig.

The equipment list includes Clay Paky Sharpys, VL 3000 spots, MAC Auras, Martin Atom

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Europe - Known for his boundary-crossing repertoire that includes classical arrangements of rock, pop, and punk music, violinist David Garrett recently performed a series of open-air shows across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. German production service provider POOLgroup deployed a Meyer Sound Leo linear large-scale sound reinforcement system for the tour.

Kai Ulrich, FOH engineer for Garrett, was first attracted to Leo's headroom, which would allow him to eliminate delay loudspeakers for many shows.

"Everything sounds so effortless with LEO," says Ulrich. "You can really feel the headroom, even though the David Garrett show is not very loud. The first time I used the system I was actually completely overwhelmed by the sound, and I am not at all 'brand religious'."

David Garrett's touring Leo system featured up to 12 Leo-M line array loudspeakers per

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USA - Do you work in a lead position as a rigger or electrician in the US? Then ETCP Certification might be suitable for you. More and more venues and employers across North America are searching for ETCP Certified Technicians to fill their lead positions. ETCP has issued over 1600 certifications! Don't get left behind, submit your application today.

The ETCP Examinations will be given at LDI 2013 in Las Vegas, NV. All three ETCP examinations will be given in one session the morning of Saturday, 23 November, 2013. Candidates who wish to take more than one exam should contact ETCP. Interested applicants must submit their application, along with supporting materials and fee, to the ETCP office no later than 28 October, 2013.

Candidate information, including eligibility requirements, applications and study tactics, is available on the ETCP website (http://etcp.plasa.org/ldi2013.h

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Denmark - Rune Slot, live sound engineer for Danish rock band D-A-D, has turned to DPA Microphones to deliver the loud, punchy sound for which the band is famous. Slot has been on tour with D-A-D for most of this year, taking in countries such as China and the US as well as plenty of places in Europe.

To mic drummer Laust Sonne's snare drum, Slot uses a combination of a DPA d:dicate 2011C Twin Diaphragm Cardioid Microphones and DPA d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones, with the former positioned above the snare and the latter below. The d:votes are also used to mike the toms, high hat and cymbals, with reinforcement provided by a DPA d:dicate 4011 Compact Cardioid Microphone positioned underneath the cymbals. He also uses the 2011Cs to pick up Jacob Binzer's lead guitar. The musician has two cabinets that give a great combination of clean and dirty sound so Slot positioned the 201

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UK - A fundraising event in support of the restoration of the Grade II listed Unity Hall in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, helped the project pass the £100,000 investment mark, taking it further towards its target of £150,000, which is needed to buy all the audio and lighting equipment for the venue.

The event, held on 11 July at The New Inn pub in Walton, raised £3,000 towards the restoration and saw LS-Live and Backstage Academy's Adrian Brooks present a cheque for their £5,000 donation.

Said Unity Hall director Chris Hill, "The fantastic lift that Unity Hall will give to the centre of Wakefield, turning Westgate away from a heavy drinking street to a place everyone can go to enjoy themselves with galleries, cafés and retail, will make that whole area the cultural heart of a new university city.

"The fundraiser was just further proof th

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Germany - Robe's LEDWash series continues to break new ground and set more records as a best-selling product. The German market - consistently one of the strongest in Europe for Robe - sees German distributor LMP announcing orders for over 1500 units of Robe's LEDWash 800.

Three of the largest dry-hire companies in Germany - Motion Light from Fürth, Conrad Licht & Rigging Support from Bergkirchen in the Hafenstrasse and Dortmund based NicLen - have all placed their orders with LMP for LEDWash 800s.

Together they will take over 1500 units, which will be readily available for designers and production companies wanting to use them on their shows and events.

The Robin 800 LEDWash was originally manufactured as a special request and soon became an additional production model - added to the 300, 600 and 1200 models in this successful range.

The enhanced LEDWash 800 fixture util

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UK - Leeds Metropolitan University student Phil Stuttard was the 'Student of the Week' at the Gus Dudgeon Foundation & JAMES Summer Course recently held at MCI Studio Suite at The ATRiuM Campus of the University of South Wales.

Along with his award, Stuttard received a Focusrite ISA One and an sE Electronics mic of his choice donated by two of this year's sponsors. Stuttard said, "It has been an absolutely amazing experience, and to learn from professionals as talented as Greg Haver and Dan Turner (USW) has been a phenomenal opportunity."

Now in its third consecutive year, the course steered 12 selected students from JAMES accredited courses through five days of recording on both analogue and digital systems. This year's tutor Greg Haver commented, "My week with the graduates surpassed all of my expectations. Working with such enthusiastic, well trained engineer

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