USA - When Pollstar announced the ticket sales for the first quarter of 2014, the number one most attended concert wasn't a pop star or a rock god, but instead a tour that makes ministry its main focus. The Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, or Winter Jam as it is popularly known, just capped off its most successful year ever, with more attendees than ever before and included performances by NewSong, Newsboys, Lecrae, Tenth Avenue North, Thousand Foot Krutch and Plumb.

Bandit Lites worked with production manager and lighting designer Jerry Holcomb to illuminate the event.

"I tried to create an in the round end stage design, trying to leave as much line if sight as possible," explained Holcomb. "I used one 60ft diameter circle truss, but I broke it into several sections

UK / USA - Raising money for industry charities both sides of the Atlantic, By Design Day returns this year supported by a galaxy of well-known champions.

Neil Austin; Gregg Barnes; Ken Billington; Paule Constable; Rick Fisher; Wendall Harrington; Howard Harrison; Don Holder; David Korins; Rob Milburn & Michael Bodeen; Ken Posner; Jennifer Tipton; and Hugh Vanstone have all put their name behind the one day in the year when our industry gets together to raise money for Light Relief in the UK and Behind The Scenes in North America.

To date Light Relief has awarded more than £60,000 in grants to help lighting professionals and their families, while Behind the Scenes has issued over $450,000 in grants to professionals working in all disciplines. And calls for our assistance are increasing on a daily basis. Without your support, our work would not be possible.

By Design Da

South Africa - A Robe MiniMe starred alongside Scrooge, played by Marc Lottering, in Lara Foot's adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol held at the Baxter Theatre, which forms part of the University of Cape Town.

On a visit to Johannesburg, Patrick Curtis, production manager at the Baxter Theatre Centre, enquired about a fixture that would assist him to create a phantom effect. "I asked Rob Izzett from DWR Distribution what I could use to project a ghost-like image that could move around the set," explained Curtis. "He suggested the MiniMe which at that stage had not yet arrived in South Africa."

Curtis felt this was a very well-priced moving head projector compared to the larger, more powerful units already in the Robe armoury.

The unit arrived days before the set-up, and with the assistance of Gerda and Philip Kruger, lighting designer

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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

UK - Pioneer is set to showcase its impressive range of professional audio speakers at this year's PLASA Focus in Leeds.

Since launching last summer, word has been spreading about the new range of speakers from Pioneer that have been designed for nightclubs. The XY series will be on demonstration on the Pioneer stand along with experts to talk through what makes the range along with the GS-WAVE series such exciting systems.

Currently installed various Ibiza hot spots including legendary nightclub Booom!, Pikes, KM5 and the Ushuaia Tower, the range has been designed specifically to get the best sound possible on the dance floor.

To create the ultimate club sound system, Pioneer partnered with Gary Stewart of Gary Stewart Audio (GSA), whose sound systems have roused clubbers in the world's most iconic venues, including Singapore's Zouk and Club Vertigo in Costa Rica. The team

UK - London-based sound hire specialist Podd Sound, using a QSC WideLine-8 PA with associated Shure UHF-R and ULX-D wireless microphone systems, provided PA and commentary facilities for Sony Music's first UK playback of the new Michael Jackson album, Xscape, on March 31st.

Held in the main ballroom at the stylish five-star Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge, London, the exclusive playback was attended by international media and assorted celebrities, supplemented by video messages from album producers LA Reid and Timbaland, and hosted by Radio 1 Xtra's Trevor Nelson.

With rooms starting at over 500 pounds a night, the Bulgari is an unashamedly luxurious hotel in one of the most prestigious parts of the capital, and the high-quality finish of the ballroom venue dictated the standard of the furnishings chosen for the playback. Sony Music brought in furniture costing several thousand

UK - The latest products from Philips Entertainment's premier brands - Selecon, Showline, Strand Lighting, and Vari-Lite - will make their UK debut at PLASA Focus, Leeds, stand NA-12 from 29-30 April.

Showline is exhibiting a plethora of new products. The SL NITRO 510C follows on the success of the original SL NITRO 510 LED strobe. The SL NITRO 510C LED strobe adds full RGBW capabilities into the same compact size luminaire while maintaining similar massive output, multiple zone control and continuous-on abilities.

Also debuting in the UK is the Showline SL WASH 350, a compact moving washlight with three independent zones of homogenized RGBW control. In addition, budget minded projects will appreciate the new SL ePAR 180 and SL eSTROBE 130. These two luminaires offer high output and innovative features in a compact size.

Philips Selecon premieres the LED RAMA Fresnel, which

UK - Entertainment equipment engineering expert Triple E will be on stand R-B14 at PLASA Focus, Leeds, armed with its array of industry-leading track systems, its brand new heavy duty TDrive motor, and a rebooted website with enhanced quote tools.

Triple E's David Edelstein and Scott Foster will be available to discuss the company's Erail, Unitrack, and Unibeam track systems, known for their simple design, rugged construction and ease of installation in entertainment applications. The company's popular SDrive and original TDrive motors will also be on show.

Visitors will also be able to get hands-on with the brand new heavy duty TDrive motor, which makes its UK debut at PLASA Focus. It was created in response to the requirements of a number of projects in the USA and Canada.

The new TDrive HD motor has been developed for longer track systems and heavier curtains. The motor i

UK - Wireless conferencing and camouflaged loudspeakers will be the emphasis for Sennheiser UK at this year's PLASA Focus (Stand RC-15), with Sennheiser's ADN-W and Speech Line systems, and K-array's new Khameleon loudspeaker wraps all making their first UK appearance.

Launched at ISE earlier this year, Sennheiser's ADN-W is the hybrid wireless extension of the successful ADN conference system.

ADN-W is the wireless component of a hybrid solution that enables the combination of wired and wireless components. This allows existing ADN wired systems to be easily expanded by adding ADN-W components. All discussion units can then be directly controlled from the same central unit. The replaceable rechargeable batteries guarantee an operating period of at least 20 hours for the ADN-W discussion units.

Up to 150 wireless discussion units can be used simultaneously. And if the need a

UK - Ampetronic is celebrating being named a winner of the Queen's Award for Enterprise. The award is for International Trade, in recognition of achieving sustained high export growth in the company's sector of hearing assistance. Ampetronic, based in Newark, Nottinghamshire, is the world's leading manufacturer of hearing loop products, having doubled its export sales in the last three years, and continuing to grow rapidly overseas.

The company's hearing loop products help millions of people around the world, allowing people with hearing loss to communicate easily in difficult noisy environments and to access audio services (such as the soundtrack in a cinema) wirelessly via their hearing aid or a receiver.

Ampetronic first started to design and manufacture hearing loop systems (also known as Audio Frequency Induction Loops) over 25 years ago. Over this time, Ampetronic's syst

UK - Leading international AV creative house 7thSense Design - specialists in media serving for state-of-the-art digital display experiences - has been awarded the prestigious Queen's Award for Enterprise Innovation 10 years after being founded.

Known for some of the highest performance planetarium, 3D cinema, museum, visitor attraction, theme park, projection mapping, and live event installations worldwide, the UK-based team behind the Delta Media Server will be presented with the award by Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of the County in the coming weeks. Recognising the best of British, the Queen's Award is the highest accolade for UK businesses.

As providers of unique technology within the Entertainment industry, 7thSense is renowned for its proprietary Delta Media Server - an audiovisual solution designed to take the highest quality media and play it on any large-scale scree

UK - Leading international AV creative house 7thSense Design - specialists in media serving for state-of-the-art digital display experiences - has been awarded the prestigious Queen's Award for Enterprise Innovation 10 years after being founded.

Known for some of the highest performance planetarium, 3D cinema, museum, visitor attraction, theme park, projection mapping, and live event installations worldwide, the UK-based team behind the Delta Media Server will be presented with the award by Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of the County in the coming weeks. Recognising the best of British, the Queen's Award is the highest accolade for UK businesses.

As providers of unique technology within the Entertainment industry, 7thSense is renowned for its proprietary Delta Media Server - an audiovisual solution designed to take the highest quality media and play it on any large-scale scree

UK - West London UK based lighting and visuals rental specialist Colour Sound Experiment has invested in nearly 100 new Robe lighting fixtures for its upcoming summer season including 60 multi-purpose Robe Robin Pointe luminaires ... in readiness for a mega busy summer season ahead.

Last year Colour Sound supplied lighting production, LED screens, LED festoon lighting and crew to over 50 festivals and music events across the UK, and their 2014 summer season looks to be equally busy, kicking off at the end of May with We Are FSTVL in Upminster, east London.

Also included in the order with the 60 x Pointes were 16 x Robin MMX Spots and 16 x LEDWash 600s, together with four of Robe's award-winning Robin MiniMe effects units.

Colour Sound's Haydn Cruickshank (H) explains that the MMXs and LEDWash 600s were to top up their existing stocks of these workhorse products. With this la

UK - CUK Audio, the recently appointed exclusive UK distributor for dB Technologies, has announced a new dealer partnership scheme designed to help retailers provide their customers with the best possible services and support.

Founded in 2005, CUK Audio has rapidly become a tour de force in the installation and pro audio industries. Recognized for their ability to supply complete audio solutions, the company is able to ensure customer projects are successful from conception through to client sign-off. dB Technologies leads the industry in producing outstanding, innovative pro-audio products and shares a mutual ethos with CUK Audio with regard to first class customer service and support.

The new dealer partnership scheme creates an approved tiered network of retail partners and pro partners. Each tier will have access to its own specifically designed and suited range of dB Tech

UAE - To cater for the most recent event called Electric Days, Melody House, a sole distributor of HK Audio in the Middle East, supplied the Third Eye Crew with an HK Linear 5 series sound system.

The system purchased by the agency included two 112XA 12-inch wedge monitors, four 112FA 12-inch speakers, two 115FA 15-inch speakers and two L Sub 2500A subwoofers. The system was selected because of its high SPL capability as well as its small, transportable format.

Third Eye Crew is an agency responsible for organising the famous Electric Days roof top parties that host DJs visiting Dubai for one-night only performances.

"HK Audio's Linear 5 system provides great sound quality with the flexible combination of portability and expandability," commented Manivelu Saiprasad, HK Audio specialist from Melody House Musical Instruments. "And the design makes the perfect sy

UK - Some of R&B's most successful '90s artists were reunited at London's Wembley Arena in February for a mega-concert, lit by Tom Grant using Clay Paky Sharpys and Alpha Wash 700s.

The R&B Superstars show - which featured En Vogue, Blackstreet2 and Teddy Riley - offered up an evening of soul and smooth tunes in the capital's 12,500-capacity venue.

Birmingham-based DMX Productions managed the project, with support from LD Tom Grant who provided a high-impact, super-star style lighting design that reflected the size and popularity of the show and Siyan Ltd, which supplied the lighting equipment.

"I was tasked with designing a rig with considerable of depth and flexibility to it," explains Grant. "The show featured a sizeable number of acts. We also had a specific request from the organisers for the individual sets not to 'all look too similar'; I took the view

Spain - One of the latest companies to invest in a Meyer Sound Lyon linear sound reinforcement system, Use Sonido of Spain is deploying the system on tour with multi-platinum recording artist Sergio Dalma.

"We believe Lyon is a significant technological breakthrough," says Oscar Marchena, technical director of Use Sonido. "It not only has excellent sound quality, but it is also compact and exceptionally powerful."

Lyon incorporates the technology of the Leo family in a more flexible and compact package, and extends the advantages of highly linear self-powered systems to a larger range of venues and applications. For the Sergio Dalma tour, Use Sonido is providing 20 new Lyon linear line array loudspeakers, six 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements, six UPA-1P loudspeakers for front-fill, and a Galileo Callisto loudspeaker management system with a Galileo C

UK - Designed to meet the demands of concerts, theatrical productions, theme parks, film sets, photo shoots and safety training exercises, Rosco's new Vapour Series fog machines offer "the perfect balance of performance, durability and cost".

The Mini-V is the most affordable, professional-quality fog machine available. This compact machine delivers a powerful, solid, continuous stream of fog thanks to its hassle-free, simple controls and its energy-efficient, durable heat exchanger.

A revolution in fog technology, the Vapour Plus produces a massive blast of fog! Designed to fill large venues or create impressive CO2 like bursts of fog, the Vapour Plus is small enough to mount in box truss and power from a single mains circuit.

Whether you need to create a light haze for a theatrical production or a dense haze for a concert tour, Rosco's V-Hazer will produce the sm

UK - Link Srl will introduce an expanded range of DGlink touring switches, LKG hybrid gigabit connectors, and fibre cables at PLASA Focus Leeds.

Link, a leading manufacturer and distributor of products specifically designed to solve wiring and connectivity problems within the entertainment and broadcast industries, will feature the following:

The LK Gigabit (LKG) series hybrid connector is equipped with a CAT6 circular contact specifically designed to provide robust Gigabit Ethernet connections in addition to the conventional power and signal contacts that are typical in the LK series connectors.

The LKG ensures that CAT6 1000BASE-T signals can be transmitted up to 90 meters with minimal attenuation while leaving headroom for the eurocable fan in/fan out terminations. The CAT6 contacts are compliant with EIA/TIA 568B.2 and ISO/IEC 11801 standards.

The eurocable LSZH PUR mu

UK - At their joint stand at PLASA Focus: Leeds next week (booth N-A01), Electro-Voice and Dynacord will be presenting the latest additions to their world-class portfolios of loudspeakers, amplifiers, digital sound processing and mixing consoles. Among the products celebrating their PLASA premiere will be the Electro-Voice ETX Powered Loudspeaker series as well as the AXM 12A monitor and PM502 mixer from Dynacord.

The new ETX Powered Loudspeaker family builds upon the 85-year heritage of Electro-Voice audio engineering to offer "the most advanced professional portable powered loudspeakers available today", the company says, describing it as: "A versatile high-end choice for live entertainment venues, rental companies, pro musicians DJs, and installed sound."

The ETX Powered Loudspeaker family offers technologies from EV concert/touring systems and includes

UK - Entertainment lighting specialist White Light returns to the Royal Armouries in Leeds this month for the annual PLASA Focus exhibition April 29-30. On stand N-C24 in New Dock Hall, visitors will find the latest lighting and effects solutions including White Light exclusive products from manufacturers Altman Lighting, ArKaos Pro, Chromlech, CORE Lighting, Interactive Technologies, Look Solutions, LSC Lighting and Wireless Solution. White Light's display of products will focus on TV lighting, LED lighting, show control systems, and special effects equipment.

White Light staff will be on hand throughout the show to answer questions and offer advice about hire, sales, installation, and service for your production, tour, or venue. Visitors will also want to stop by the White Light stand to enter to win a new iPad Air courtesy of Wireless Solution - makers of W-DMX product line.

Sweden - Lab.gruppen has launched its new install dedicated amplifier range, LUCIA. Addressing the specific needs of the AV contractor market for high quality, localized audio systems, the two-channel LUCIA (Localized Utility Compact Intelligent Amplification) is a compact and versatile Energy Star compliant Class D amplifier platform, packed with the innovative features and superior sonic performance Lab.gruppen has become renowned for. Designed with speed of install and easy configuration in mind, LUCIA combines cutting edge low-impedance amplifier electronics with advanced DSP in the smallest amplifier the company has ever produced.

For small-scale AV applications where high quality audio is required, without the complication and additional cost of a distributed system with centralized rack-mounted amplification, matrixing and processing, LUCIA offers systems designers a more

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