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29 July 2025

France - The historic courtyard of Lyon’s town hall was transformed into a concert venue to host the recent Bal des Fiertés festival, where APG’s Uniline Max made its debut. The newly launched line array system proved a good fit for an evening of high-impact sound in a challenging acoustic environment.

The event marked one of the first-ever deployments of the Uniline Max by Moov’Event, a France-based event production and rental company led by Felipe Araya, and the first company in Europe to have invested in the new line array series. Working alongside Camille Vidal, a partner of the LGBTQI centre in Lyon as a technical manager for events and live performance, the team was tasked with transforming the ornate courtyard into a professional live entertainment venue quickly and with no compromise on quality.

The client’s brief was to quickly and

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29 July 2025

Spain - Mallorca’s Bierkönig at Ballermann has been setting new standards in lighting and event technology since the opening of its newly created event area. The German event technology service provider RheinlandAkustik is in charge of the lighting design for the modernised area in the popular party location on the island. At the heart of the concept is a comprehensive lighting technology set-up based on more than 300 Cameo lights.

The collaboration between the Bierkönig and RheinlandAkustik began in 2023 with the Kölsche Woche (Cologne Week) – an event format that brings Cologne Carnival to the island. What began as a successful start has evolved into a strong partnership and now culminated in the newly created event area.

“We were involved in the technical planning at an early stage and were able to coordinate ou

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29 July 2025

France - The 32nd edition of Jazzellerault Festival has taken an innovative approach to immersive audio technology, combining L-ISA deployment with comprehensive education for visiting engineers. As celebrated acts like Imagination featuring Leee John, Avishaï Cohen Trio, and Richard Galliano performed at the L'Angelarde venue, their FOH engineers were learning the nuances of spatial sound mixing with L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound technology.

The collaboration between Scène de Nuit – NT Event, L-Acoustics Certified Provider, and the festival's diverse roster of international sound engineers transformed the technical implementation into a valuable learning experience. Each of the six visiting engineers - many encountering L-ISA for the first time - received personalised guidance in spatial mixing techniques, expanding their professional toolkit

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29 July 2025

Japan - In addition to its commanding presence in the Expo Arena Matsuri at this year’s Osaka Expo 2025, Martin Audio loudspeakers also feature exclusively in the UK Pavilion where audio system designer and spatial sound consultant, Dave Parry has equipped the visitor experience, working for experiential master planner and exhibition designer, Immersive International.

The initiative was led by the UK's Department for Business and Trade, whose aim is to promote trade and understanding between the UK and Japan. The design, build, maintain and deconstruct contractors are ES Global.

Having won a competitive tender, Immersive International were charged with delivering end to end concept design and strategy, including interior spatial design, animation production of the content, and mascot design (the playful children’s character PIX). This interactive

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29 July 2025

South Africa - Gearhouse Splitbeam of Johannesburg, part of South Africa’s Gearhouse Group, has updated and expanded its followspot inventory with the addition of three Robert Juliat Arthur LT 800W LED 4°-10° (Long Throw) followspots, supplied by Robert Juliat’s distributor for South Africa, DWR Distribution.

Founded 15 years ago by Alistair Kilbee, Gearhouse Splitbeam focuses on theatre and long-term rental, having built a reputation for meeting lighting, audio and AV requirements for every size of production from small independent theatre shows to large franchise musicals.

Its recent investment in RJ Arthur LT followspots came as a result of an expansion of Gearhouse Splitbeam’s lighting fleet in which the team also made a concerted effort to modernise and shift to LED sources: “Because of our primary involvement in theatre we place a lot

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29 July 2025

UK - Now in their 20th year of collaboration, Culture Creative and White Light continue to deliver some of the UK’s most visually captivating outdoor experiences. From the atmospheric chills of Halloween to the festive warmth of Christmas, White Light (WL), a d&b solutions company, is one of Culture Creative’s main suppliers for their seasonal trails across the country.

At the heart of Culture Creative’s trails is a commitment to storytelling through light. Tony Simpson, head of lighting at Culture Creative, leads the design and delivery of lighting across all UK sites. With a background in both lighting design and technical management, Tony brings a deep understanding of how light can shape emotion, atmosphere, and audience experience.

“Our trails are about more than just lighting trees,” Tony explains. “They’re about creating mome

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29 July 2025

Local Initiative - More than 1,000 pubs, bars and restaurants across the UK will host music events as part of a new nationwide festival backed by The 1975's Matty Healy, who has warned about the talent pipeline drying up. "Local venues aren't just where bands cut their teeth, they're the foundation of any real culture," the frontman said in a statement. "Without them, you don't get The Smiths, Amy Winehouse, or The 1975. You get silence."

The Seed Sounds Weekender will take place in September in small "seed" venues like those where many big names start out. But like much of the UK's nightlife scene, they are facing "unprecedented economic challenges", organisers said. They gave examples of seed venues including the Grapes pub in Sheffield, where the Arctic Monkeys made their debut; Rayner's Hotel in Harrow, north-west London, where Amy Winehouse pla

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28 July 2025

UK - Unusual Rigging worked with spidercam, part of Ross Video’s Camera Motion Systems portfolio, to deliver the rigging at one of golf’s most televised finishing holes – the 18th at Royal Portrush. The use of spidercam marks ’a significant milestone in sports broadcasting’, with a four-point cable camera system suspended directly above the green, offering stunning aerial footage while maintaining complete discretion during play.

The Open is the oldest golf tournament in the world and the only major played outside the US. spidercam allowed viewers to walk alongside the 2025 champion Scottie Scheffler, up the 18th – at times, one of the longest walks in golf.

Jason White, senior production rigger at Unusual commented: “We first connected with spidercam many years ago while working on the Olympic Games. It’s a clever system; the spiderc

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28 July 2025

UK - The Grade 1 listed St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, one of the best-known religious landmarks, has agreed an ongoing maintenance contract with Whitwam AVI. This enduring partnership, which has continued to strengthen since an initial collaboration on a full AV system refit in 2016, remains vital to the smooth running of the Cathedral’s services, broadcasts and events.

In addition to being a working parish church, St Giles’ is a major visitor attraction on the Edinburgh scene and is frequently used as a performance venue, hosting international musicians, spoken word events and candlelit orchestral concerts. Therefore, ensuring the ongoing functionality of all elements of the Cathedral’s audio, broadcast and video infrastructure is critical.

Specialist AV integrator Whitwam AVI has worked with many of the UK’s most revered ecclesiastic

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28 July 2025

USA - Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) supported the U.S. Soccer Federation during the recent U.S. Men’s National Team friendly against Türkiye. The match was held at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT.

As the governing body for Major League Soccer and all U.S. soccer programmes, the U.S. Soccer Federation brought together a world-class production team for this high-profile event. PWS worked in close collaboration with the U.S. Soccer event production team and the technical director from Power Station Events to ensure seamless audio throughout the venue.

Broadcast live by TNT, which is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, the match demanded top-tier coordination behind the scenes. The PWS on-site team, B2B and business development lead Joshua Lampf and operations coordinator Chris Budin, and a seasoned A1 en

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28 July 2025

USA - For their first major arena tour as headliners, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats hit the road this past spring on their South of Here Tour with a soulful, vintage-inspired production design that reflected their signature blend of folk, Americana, and rhythm & blues.

At the heart of the lighting design was the Elation SŌL I Blinder – a key fixture chosen by production and lighting designer Jeremy Roth, who specified 106 units as the core element of the visual aesthetic. Brown Note Productions delivered the full lighting, audio, and rigging systems for the tour. 

Roth turned to the SŌL Blinders for their blend of retro form factor and modern colour capabilities. “I’m generally attracted to retro-looking fixtures,” he explained. “My preference is to utilise the best aspects of new technology, but ideally in a fix

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28 July 2025

Europe - What you see is not always what it appears to be. This timeless reality check can make things a bit uncertain at times, but on the flip side, it can also lead to some surprising moments. Such was the case with the production design that Rob Lister and his team at IYA created for the recently completed nu-metal band Korn’s world tour.

With its towering trim and floating automated light pods, the tour’s production immersed and captivated fans on a multitude of levels, but though the show was majestic, the underlying lighting element behind it was straightforward, according to Thomas ‘Church’ Christmann of CycoVision.

Christmann was the programmer and LD for the tour, powering his show with a ChamSys MagicQ MQ500M+ Stadium console. “Rob and the IYA team did an incredible job,” he said. “They gave me all the freedom to programme th

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28 July 2025

USA - When HYROX, the global fitness racing competition, launched its US tour in 2021, the production setup was modest: a few events, smaller venues and one JBL VRX rig. But just four years later, HYROX has exploded in popularity, with events spanning multiple days and filling over 250,000sq.ft of convention space, drawing in thousands of fans and elite athletes from around the world.

"We started that gig in the spring of 2021 when COVID was still lingering, and we only had a few events in the US," said Daniel Nickleski, COO of Vantage Production Group by Sound Works and lead on the project. "Now it’s a global brand, and HYROX US events alone take over massive convention centres. We needed an audio system that could scale with that growth while staying reliable and consistent."

To meet those demands, Nickleski and his team turned to the JBL SRX900

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28 July 2025

USA - Visual solutions company Observatory created ambitious new content for this year’s multi-genre Electric Forest festival in the Double JJ Resort in Rothbury, Michigan, using two Hippotizer Boreal+ MK2 Media Servers driving two 4k outputs each to deliver the spectacle.

Simon Harris and his team at Observatory were commissioned by Leisure Expert Group – the creative directors of Insomniac who part own the festival – to create two new pieces of scenic content for the famous Sherwood Stage, which was hugely successful and the most popular choice by incoming artists.

Deploying the Boreal+ MK2 Media Servers, which were supplied by Screenworks, the Observatory team delivered control equipment, programming, operation and content for the festival, as well as scenic content.

On stage the team rigged a 5mm LED Proscenium ‘Header’

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25 July 2025

UK - One of PLASA Show’s most popular features, Classic Gear Live, returns in 2025 with a new location and an expanded collection of rare and iconic entertainment technology. 

Now situated on the Gallery level of Olympia, London, this unmissable feature brings together two distinct showcases: Classic Gear Live by Rob Halliday, focusing on lighting and projection history, and CH Vintage Audio by Chris Hewitt, presenting legendary rock and roll sound systems.

This year, Classic Gear Live moves upstairs to stands K82 and K109, offering a fresh perspective on the history of live production. With a newly created dark space, visitors can experience psychedelic and theatrical projections as they were originally intended - including Aldis and Optikinetics effects projectors, and Strand’s classic effects discs.

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25 July 2025

Europe - Front-of-house sound engineer Curtis McKenna has worked with Tate McRae since 2022, supporting her rise from playing clubs to her current Miss Possessive arena tour across South America, Europe and North America. Having experienced a wide range of sound systems in that time, he has developed a clear preference for the system which he feels best serves the needs of this artist – the d&b audiotechnik SL-Series.

“Every time we used d&b - whether KSL, GSL, or even J-Series – her voice always sat really well in the mix,” says McKenna. “Because of the cardioid system, I could mix a little louder without spill coming back onto stage. She was more comfortable and always enjoyed the gig more.”

Sound rental provider for the tour is UK-based 22live. It may be a relatively new name, but with Paul Timmins (ex-Capital Sound), Spencer B

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25 July 2025

Spain - Featuring a variety of permanent and temporary exhibitions focused on the environment, nature, science, and space, CosmoCaixa Barcelona is one of the premier science museums in Europe

Sponsored by the La Caixa banking foundation, the museum is housed in a striking modernist building which also includes an auditorium and smaller theatre for presentations and lectures.

The auditorium already features sound from a Nexo Geo S12 system specified by Imesde, and the museum recently contacted the Barcelona-based event technology specialists again to propose a new system for the smaller lecture theatre.

“For a system that is mostly used for conventions, the Nexo Geo M10 was the perfect choice,” reports Imesde audio engineer Marc Parareda. “It’s compact and offers great coverage and performance. Even without subs it is a great solution

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25 July 2025

Europe - ShurePlus Channels is now Wireless Workbench Mobile, a tool for audio professionals seeking seamless management of Shure wireless systems while on the move. The app, available for free on Android and iOS, delivers powerful new tools, including guided alerts and mobile frequency coordination.1 Monitor system performance and troubleshoot directly from an Android phone, iPhone, or iPad.

Designed for speed and precision, Wireless Workbench Mobile delivers ‘trusted wireless control away from the rack or laptop, enhancing productivity and facilitating fast decision-making to keep users one step ahead’.

Key features of Wireless Workbench Mobile include Optimised Frequency Coordination: Scan and assign clean frequencies using built-in coordination tools for reliable setup, ensuring clear, uninterrupted audio, plus flexible access via iOS mobile

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25 July 2025

Estonia - The Tallinn City Theatre is re-opening after a three-year closure that saw implementation of a full renovation and technical upgrade programme, including the purchase of new Robe moving lights - 55 x T2 Fresnels and 17 x T2 Profiles – and the addition of a complete new main venue which is two stories below ground.

This brings the busy and vibrant repertory theatre’s performance space total to seven – four main, two extras / experimental and an outdoor area. The same team also operates shows in another building down the street.

The theatre, founded in the 1960s, is housed in a maze of interconnected medieval merchants’ houses in the charismatic heart of Tallinn’s old town, a highly atmospheric setting steeped in history, folklore and tradition that is perfect for staging a range of thought-provoking performances.

Head of li

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25 July 2025

UK - Jon Chadwick, front of house engineer for the band Papadosio, recently put the compact Allen & Heath Avantis Solo digital mixing console to the test on the group's latest tour.

Chadwick had extensive prior experience with Allen & Heath's dLive and SQ series, making the transition to Avantis intuitive. Chadwick strategically opted for a digital split over Dante with the monitor console, leveraging three DX168 expanders positioned throughout the stage. This choice offered significant flexibility for I/O placement and simplified cabling, replacing bulkier analogue snakes with more convenient ethercon runs.

"The Avantis’ flexible I/O routing made setting up the Dante split seamless," Chadwick noted, "I could tie-line mix outs from the monitor console to DX168 outputs, ensuring the band retained their familiar monitor setup without needing