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USA - Country legend Vince Gill is touring the US with lighting provided by Bandit Lites. With 20 Grammy Awards, two Entertainer of the Year CMAs and more than 26m albums sold, Vince Gill's shows are an exercise of musical genius for the multi-instrumentalist singer-song writer.

As Vince Gill's lighting designer for the past four years, Dylan Mire felt the lighting needed a refreshing new look that would complement the show but not distract from Vince or the bluegrass band.

"The lighting needed to be simple and effective to highlight an established artist," Mire said. "We also needed the gear to fit into a limited amount of truck space."

Mire utilized VL 2500 Spots, Robe CycFX8 and Martin MAC Auras in the design, placing GRN Par 64 fixtures for light column

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Benelux - ETC has changed its sales structure in Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg) from a distributor based model to a dealer market, in order to provide the highest quality support in the region. The new system went into effect on 2 April, with three companies named as dealers.

"In March, our Belgium distributor, FACE bvba, opened an office in the Netherlands," explains ETC regional manager Tim Stokholm, "and we approved them as an official dealer. To best serve our customers, we decided to make Benelux a dealer-based region." ETC's dealers in Benelux are now FACE, Lightco and Controllux.

"FACE has been expanding steadily in the Netherlands," says FACE CEO Karel de Piere. "We opened our support centre in Rotterdam, and a new consultant, Fons de Vreede, joined our team. If you can add a world class brand like ETC to your portfo

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USA - Jody Elff is a multitalented audio professional with over 25 years of deep and diverse experiences in venues of almost every shape, size, and quality. He cut his teeth in the late 80s and early 90s in Boston, and then after moving back to the New York area, working front-of-house for leading-edge jazz acts like The New York Voices and Diana Krall.

In the late 1990s, he earned a privileged spot with New York's avant garde guru Laurie Anderson, serving as the lead engineer on her concert tours, the designer for her computer programsme, and the recording and mix engineer. From there, he developed another long-lasting engagement with Bang On a Can, the visionary contemporary classical music organization that has revolutionized the relationship between popular and classical music.

One thing leads to another, and Elff signed up to work front-of-house for Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk

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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 - Cello concerts and head banging don't usually occur in the same building unless of course you're at a 2Cello's concert complete with a rock 'n roll lighting design and dynamic lighting effects by Elation Professional.

Out on a spring US tour, 2Cellos is a cello duo that combines training in classical music with youthful rock energy to present a special concert experience. Riding a wave of popularity - the band even played with Elton John recently at his residency in Las Vegas - 2Cellos are selling out shows at every stop.

Lighting designer for the 2Cellos US tour is Chris Maguire, who has over 25 years of touring experience under his belt (Ted Nugent, et al) yet admits that at first he wasn't quite sure how to light the more untraditional band. "It's just two cellos and a drum kit and there are big stages to fill," he says. "But they play everything from B

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The Netherlands - The IAB (Institute of Audio and Lighting Technology) in Utrecht, Holland, recently overhauled its audio equipment, selecting Allen & Heath's GLD mixers and ME personal monitoring system as the new training tools for all its audio courses.

Founded 20 years ago, the IAB provides recognised training qualifications for live sound and lighting technicians in the stage and event industry. The Institute decided to upgrade the audio equipment used on their courses to provide students with an up-to-date audio system that can mix both FOH and monitors, and record a live performance, in one simple, integrated package.

The Institute purchased six GLD-80 mixers fitted with Dante network cards, AR2412 and AR84 remote IO racks, and a ME-U hub with four ME-1 personal monitor mixers. Connected via the Dante network, the system enables six students to mix and record simultaneo

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UK / Germany - Avolites proved its truly international appeal at Prolight+Sound 2015, teaming up with dealers, distributors and friends from around the world to celebrate the launch of its Arena console, the new Titan V9 operating system, and its industry-leading new features such as Autoblend.

Visitors to the Avolites Prolight+Sound stand came from more than 40 countries, and included a high number of potential new distributors, especially from North and West Africa and the Caribbean.

Now, the Avolites team is continuing the buzz by debuting its well-received new products in the UK at PLASA Focus, Leeds, on stand N-D01.

"The Arena consoles attracted a huge amount of attention during April's Prolight+Sound in Frankfurt - we were inundated with lighting designers, rental companies and specifiers, generating a fantastic response from many of the people who came to see the

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UK - PEL Music & Media has opened Tech Suite, a new demonstration facility at its offices in Northolt, North West London, to showcase what customers can achieve using its specialist extensive audio visual capabilities.

Tech Suite features one of the widest selections of videowalls in action in the UK, as well as single and multi-screen ensembles from NEC, Samsung and Sharp set up in a variety of example configurations to showcase the options available to customers. Chris Wilcox, PEL's Music & Media manager said: "Tech Suite is a great place to get a real feel for the possibilities, experience this kit working in different ways and see the latest audio visual technology from leading industry manufacturers, including a wide array of screens, sound systems and the latest discussion systems.

"Tech Suite is already evolving with the pace of developments and has been desig

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UK - Coomber has announced the launch of the market's first range of bespoke sound amplifiers. Coomber Electronic Equipment, one of the UK's leading maker of audio and visual equipment for the education sector, has announced the launch of the market's first range of bespoke sound amplifiers only months after the firm was purchased by a consortium of county businessmen.

Heralded as a major change in direction for the business, the new 44500 Sound Amplifier Series will be fully manufactured to the individual requirements of its customers at the firm's purpose built design facility in Worcestershire.

The range, which will be targeted at both the UK and international markets, allows customers to have total control over the functionality of their sound systems; specifying the number of CD drives required, microphone sockets, multiple speakers and tablet or smartphone integration.

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USA - Sensaphonics has announced a Facebook giveaway. In celebration of May as Better Hearing Month, the company will award one winner with a pair of classic 2X-S custom earphones and a dB Check in-ear sound level meter.

"Better Hearing Month is the perfect time to show how the right equipment and expertise can contribute to healthy hearing, yet still deliver high-impact audio," says Sensaphonics founder and president, Mike Santucci. "We're committed to giving our customers both.

To enter, visit and like the Sensaphonics Facebook page, go to the giveaway post titled 'RESPECT YOUR EARS' at the top of the timeline, and Share. On 1 June, Sensaphonics will hold a random drawing among all qualified entries and announce the winner online.

Sensaphonics has won numerous hearing conservation awards, including the prestigious Safe-In Sound Award for innovation in hearin

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UK - The 2015 Knight of Illumination Awards (KOI) has announced that it has added a brand new award in the Concert Touring and Events category.

The KOI Awards, which celebrates the creative talents of international lighting and digital content designers working in the UK, has added a 'Club' category, which will allow the Awards to widen its reach to celebrate LDs working at all scales of touring.

Proposed to the committee by KOI chairman of Concert Touring and Events Sarah Rushton-Read, the category was introduced in response to feedback from lighting designers working with new bands just starting out on the touring circuit. It will mean that these LDs, often working with just a floor package and having to use each venue's house rig to realise their design, will also be recognised for their creativity.

"Often designers that are touring club style venues with just a floo

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USA - The Hoover Dam, one of the top 10 engineering marvels of the world that sits high above the Colorado River on the border of Arizona and Nevada, was the chosen location for Freightliner to launch their new truck, the Freightliner Infinite Inspiration. Presented in front of a live audience perched high above on the Dam's observation deck, the event was also streamed to millions around the globe.

OSK Communications out of New York created "the big idea" and brought in NY production management specialists SIAM Productions to produce the overall event.. Creative Technology (CT) was consequently contracted to help deliver the spectacular reveal.

After the initial brief CT assembled a top-flight team to design the technical specs and lay out the execution strategy. The challenges were considerable - the 420,000sq.ft surface had a number of different angles of curves t

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Australia - The Australian Defence Forces Academy (ADFA) in Canberra has recently opened a new-build, state-of-the-art, 1200-seat auditorium to host conferences and presentations. The flexible space is constructed as a 160º arc, with sliding panels that allow it to be used either in combined mode or separated into two independent 800-seat and 400-seat venues.

The auditorium forms part of the redevelopment of ADFA - a partnership between the Australian Defence Force and the University of New South Wales - which provides training and education for future leaders of the country's Navy, Army and Air Force.

Tim McCall, sales manager at L-Acoustics notes, "Consultant GUZ BOX design + audio was brought in to design the audio system for the new space. The requirement was primarily for a system to provide vocal reinforcement, presentation sound and background music on a limited a

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Spain / UAE - After Prolight+Sound 2015 in Frankfurt, Guil confirmed their new distributor in the United Arab Emirates as Echo Beats Electronics - a company with a long history in distribution and installation of pro audio and lighting products.

Guil products will now form part of their high end portfolio, with emphasis on their lifting towers for line arrays and modular platforms for stages.

"Guil is delighted to start working with such a prestigious company and we are sure our products will be well received in their extremely conscientious market where high performance, safety and quality are the key to satisfying their customer's needs," says Eduardo Hinarejos, sales director of Guil.

Echo Beats Electronics will present Guil products at PALME Middle East Dubai from 11-13 May, at booth: ZC10.

(Jim Evans)

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World - Maroon 5 has kicked off its World Tour 2015 with 100 Clay Paky Mythos and 20 Sharpy Wash fixtures occupying a prominent place in the rig.

Maroon 5 launched its World Tour 2015 in Dallas on 16 February and will finish in Auckland, New Zealand in October. The tour is in support of the band's fifth album, V, which was released last year.

Roy Bennett, the production designer for the tour, has branded the stage with strong V motifs, inspired by the album artwork, incorporated into the trussing and transparent set pieces. Lighting and video create a dynamic, constantly changing environment on an arrow-shaped stage.

Plexiglass panels, filled with special effects smoke, act as upstage display surfaces for video content while the downstage stage was constructed as a giant, hollow plexiglass "fishbowl" that could also be filled with smoke and lit with 2

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USA - British rock band Queen have worked with several vocalists since the death of front man Freddie Mercury in 1991. On the most recent world tour, original band members Roger Taylor and Brian May recruited American Idol's Adam Lambert, whose flashy onstage presence was complemented by 97 Martin Professional MAC Viper AirFX lighting fixtures.

Lighting designer Rob Sinclair was approached in 2012 and asked to do lighting for the Queen Extravaganza, the official Queen tribute band. His work caught Queen + Adam Lambert's attention and they asked him to come and work for them on the upcoming tour. "It was a case of being at the right place at the right time," said Sinclair.

The lighting design process for the world tour started back in the fall of 2013, when Sinclair, the band and Set Designer Ric Lipson first met and came up with the idea of a Q-shaped stage. Lipson a

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UK - The Easter week marked the 14th successful Sound Fundamentals for Theatre Training course at Orbital Sound, with more than 500 students now having passed through the comprehensive education programme. Sound Fundamentals for Theatre was fully booked again this year, with students coming from a cross-section of disciplines, including corporate sector technicians, freelance engineers, and drama schools.

With its content tightly focused on preparing technical theatre and theatre sound students for careers in live entertainment, the course combines essential theory with practical skills. The teaching team for this year comprised Orbital Sound's course leader, Richard Carter, concentrating on key concepts, MIDI, computer playback, and networking. Richard was accompanied by Joseph Masters on communications and CCTV, Alex Waddle teaching radio mic fitting, John Wildridge on rigging

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UK - The largest annual fundraising event in the world, the 2015 London Marathon took place on Sunday 26 April with over 37,000 participants.

For the past five years, Hertfordshire-based Mr H Productions have supplied sound reinforcement at two points on the 26 mile route, one of which is right at the half way point.

"Every year seems to get better, we are placed at the half way mark, and entertain the cheering crowds as well as the participating runners." says Mr H Productions creative founder Andrew J Harvey. "This is very important, as the runners are given that extra encouragement. The main problem that we have faced in the past is throwing the sound way down this part of the route, without having undue noise to local residents.

"This year we tried out the HK Contour Array system, having 2 CT118 subs aside with 2 CTA208 mid/hi array cabinets, ground s

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Germany - Acoustic Development enjoyed a very successful Pro Light & Sound in Frankfurt, reporting orders totalling £250,000 received at the show.

"We look to the future with great enthusiasm and determination to develop our innovative technology into the absolute market leader within our industry," says the company. "Our designs gained a lot of attention at Frankfurt causing many strange looks and flashing of cameras. It seems many visitors including the competition were curious as to how we loaded 10 transducers into our AD2000LA which measures just 750 x 270 x 500mm.

"While our industry is very conservative our ground breaking developments can't be ignored. We are applying the laws of physics to real world audio solutions that are clearly the basis for a major shift in sound system design. We welcome the challenge and look forward to building on th

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Germany - Laserworld has introduced the RTI Velox laser moving head, available from 1.7W RGB up to 14W RGB. The RTI Velox is initially presented as the RTI Velox RGB 2.5 laser, but more versions will be available within the next few weeks - with laser powers of up to 14W RGB.

The extreme torque of 15Nm and the resulting high rotation speed of up to 180rpm make this unit the perfect gear for highly spectacular show productions and effects. Due to the high end laser system with great colour balance and extremely fast scanners, a use for TV productions or high profile shows is no problem at all.

The ILDA control signal can be fully used for laser control, and the Velox moving yoke itself is controlled via the standard DMX512 protocol. A DMX-only operation is also possible.

When a laser show system is moved on a yoke, it is absolutely essential, that it repositions accurately -

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USA - Behringer has announced a major reduction in the U.S. MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) of the company's best-selling X32 and X32 Compact Digital Mixing Consoles, and their respective Touring Packages (TP). The new pricing takes effect on 15 May.

"Sales of our X32 Digital Mixing Console have far exceeded our expectations, with the X32 rapidly becoming the industry's best-selling digital mixer of all time. The X32 mixer has revolutionized the market and until today offers an unprecedented audio quality with Midas designed preamps and connectivity with the P16 Personal Monitor system. High profile customers include Earth, Wind & Fire and the famous Whisky a Go Go club in Los Angeles," stated Music Group senior manager, Experience Joe Sanborn.

"We decided the best way to celebrate X32's three-year anniversary was to make it even more affordable. It's our way of

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UK - The SSL Live L300 console is making its PLASA Focus Leeds debut with UK dealer HD Pro Audio on stand N-A26. HD Pro Audio will also be showing the new V3 software that introduces over 40 new software and hardware features and updates for the SSL Live console range.

"With impeccable sound quality, the SSL Live consoles have created serious interest and demand since their introduction," said Andy Huffer of HD Pro Audio. "PLASA Focus gives us the opportunity to show the powerful V3 release for the first time at a UK exhibition, so we're looking forward to a very busy show."

In addition to the SSL Live, HD Pro will be showing selected products from L-Acoustics and the other leading brands the company represents.

To register for PLASA Focus Leeds, visit: www.plasafocus.com/leeds.

(Jim Evans)

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