UK - Fresh off the Justified and Stripped tour in the USA, Christina Aguilera is now taking Stripped on the road for her first major European tour. Aguilera puts on a very energetic show and the lighting design reflects that, taking on an almost cabaret-like atmosphere. The tone of the lighting constantly changes to match the mood, flowing from up-tempo dance numbers to sultry emotional songs as well Aguilera's famous ballads and torch songs. Having so many different styles of lighting for one show is a challenge that Lighting Designer Barry Halpin welcomed.

The stage was divided into areas which included props such as shadow boxes and a wall of fans. One of the biggest highlights is Aguilera's trademark 'X' - during the song 'Genie in a Bottle' she is rolled onto the stage strapped to the X, a la Hannibal Lector.

Halpin said: "I watched the concert videos

UK - Telford-based Press Red Rentals Ltd has acquired the rental business of Soundsense from the liquidator, Bristol-based Bishop Fleming. Established in July 1997, Soundsense rented audio-visual, sound and video nationwide. The company was placed into voluntary liquidation on 17 September, at which point Bishop Fleming was appointed liquidator.

Press Red Rentals has acquired certain assets and goodwill from the liquidators for an undisclosed fee. Managing director Mark Stoner commented: "We are pleased to have been able to close this deal quickly and efficiently as it means we can offer continuation of service to thosecustomers who previously rented from Soundsense. We would like to take this opportunity to thank those customers who have been so supportive during this transitional period."

The business will trade under the Press Red banner.

(Le Baldock)

UK / Italy - Midas and Klark Teknik hosted their first international distributor conference in the beautiful setting of the shores of Lake Como in Italy at the end of September. Over 120 representatives from over 50 nations attended the two-day event, which culminated in a spectacular Gala Awards dinner at one of Italy's leading hotels, the Villa d'Este on Lake Como.

According to David Cooper, recently appointed director of sales and marketing for Midas and Klark Teknik, the event was a thoroughly worthwhile exercise, and appreciated by invitees and hosts alike. "With the possible exception of the products themselves, our distributor network is the most important tool of our trade, so it's important both for us and for them that our communication channels remain strong ... Not only was it enormously valuable for our customers in terms of what they learned about new products

UK - The Association od Stage Pyrotechnicians (ASP) is running a one-day awareness course, resulting in an Association Certificate, on Friday 17 October 2003. The course runs from 9am - 5pm at the Wynd Centre, 6 School Wynd, Paisley. The course is aimed at technicians and managers who seek confidence in the inherent safety of off-the-shelf systems, whilst showcasing aspects of and uses for pyrotechnics. With a strong focus on practicality and safety, the course is designed to expand your pyrotechnic horizons.

The course is priced at £70 for members of the ASP and £100 to non-members, although non-members taking the course will be eligible upon completion for membership of the association, free of charge, for one year.

For further enquiries or to reserve your place contact Tim Reid on telephone 07941 032646 or at the e-mail or web addresses below.

(Lee Baldock)

UK - Ford of Britain hired design and communications company Imagination to produce six themed exhibition stands at Mela 2003. Mela, a culture and lifestyle show celebrating all aspects of life enjoyed by Asian Communities, took place at Wembley Exhibition Centre from 10-12 October with over 30,000 visitors attending. The event was divided into seven main areas relating to Asian culture: Lifestyle, Health & Beauty, Fashion, Weddings, Food, Business & Entertainment. Imagination created six exhibition stands heavily influenced by each subject zone. Each exhibition stand showed a relevant Ford vehicle, which was designed and decorated with an Asian theme. One car even had a bespoke oversized 'bindi' designed by leading bindi designer Manjeet Bedi (founder of Jazzy Bindi) attached to the front of the car bonnet.

Ford was one of the main sponsors of Mela 2003 and the all-encompassing

USA - After completing the recording of his new album in Paris in April, one of music's biggest names, Sting, and various band members relocated to Los Angeles where they filmed a performance DVD of the new material. Recorded at the historic Mayan Theatre in downtown LA from 13-15 May, lighting programmer Rob Smith called on the new Martin Maxxyz lighting console for the show.

For the Sting shoot, Maxxyz was used to operate a Stan Crocker-designed lighting rig that included both automated and conventional fixtures. In addition to an Emmy nominated lighting design for another Sting video shot in Tuscany, Stan has completed lighting designs for a myriad of other live music television projects including recent television specials for Willie Nelson, Mick Jagger, Tony Bennett and DVDs for KORN, Tori Amos and Rod Stewart. He recently completed tour designs for Beck and for Jane's Addi

UK - Star Rigging helped create the setting for the 2003 Disney Channel Kids' Awards at the Royal Albert Hall this September. The show featured live performances including the award winners Dannii Minogue (best female), Gareth Gates (best male) and Big Bruvvaz (best band).

Star Rigging, part of the newly-formed Star Events Group, was hired to create a structure for the show to centre around and provide an impressive setting for both the live and television audience, working alongside other contractors and the production team. Star Rigging's Phil Broad and Production North's Steve Levitt worked closely to realize Disney's ideas, developing a flying bungee stunt, which involved three aerial dancers from Cirque Bijou appearing from above the set and descending into a blaze of pyrotechnics.

Star Rigging brought all elements together, producing the detailed rigging plot required by

Asia - KV2 Audio has appointed Singapore based, Sindo Exports as distributor for Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Sindo's Koh Yock Kee said of the appointment: "We are very pleased to be appointed the exclusive distributor in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. We are positive that we will be able to promote this product and help it to grow with our company."

Koh Yock Kee is a well know figure in the audio industry around the Asia Pacific area, having previously worked with Electronics and Engineering (E&E) representing products such as Altec Lancing, Electro-Voice and Harman products.

KV2's Brian Stan added: "As we expand worldwide distribution of our products into the Asia Pacific region it's imperative that we create relationships with companies that have the energy and enthusiasm necessary to actively promote our products in their territory. Sindo Exports h

UK - BBC Radio Resources has commissioned the upgrading of its SCV5 and SCV6 (Stereo Control Vehicle) Radio OB trucks with PMC MB2S-Active monitors. The MB2s were recently installed in SCV5 and are about to be installed in SCV6; the vehicles are primarily used for live broadcasting for BBC Radio1 and Radio 2 OBs, as well as for other BBC Radio networks.

Both SCV5 and SCV6 were built as 24-track recording/broadcasting vehicles in the mid 1980s and have been consistently upgraded since that time. The MB2S-Active is self-powered with PMC/Bryston electronics and low distortion active cross-overs. Among the newly refurbished SCV5 truck's most recent notable outings was at Glastonbury 2003, Europe's biggest contemporary performing arts festival, where it was used for a live to air broadcast from 'The Other Stage'. Senior engineer (audio) Colin Pearson comments: "The speakers prov

UK - The Palace Theatre in Westcliffe-on-Sea, Essex, has been fitted out with a new Electro-Voice sound reinforcement system by Brighton-based installation company, MBI. The 100-year old theatre has a capacity of 600 seats, arranged over stalls, two circles and four boxes. David Howe of Shuttlesound, working with MBI and the theatre's owners, designed and commissioned the system, which uses Electro-Voice RX loudspeakers, driven by EV's new Precision Series remote amplifiers. "The theatre has quite reasonable acoustics," says Howe, "but we were subject to a few constraints as to where we could place speaker cabinets. We were asked not to position them above the proscenium arch, so we've wall-mounted six EV RX112 full-range cabinets, three speakers either side of the stage."

With a pair of RX218 subs built in under the stage, there are two RX112s for the stalls

USA - Hempfield United Methodist Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA have installed a new sound system, controlled by Allen & Heath's iDR digital signal processing system and a GL2200 analogue mixing console, in its former sanctuary. The combination allows the multi-purpose room to switch quickly between a variety of worship services and other activities.

Dave Marks of Hempfield UMC's Youth Technical Ministry explains: "We needed a system that could be turned on and operated without technical assistance and that would meet the rigorous needs of our youth program, we contacted Dale Shirk of Shirk Audio, who had helped us with previous projects. Dale presented us with a design using an Allen & Heath iDR DSP for the aerobics and simple meeting events and an Allen & Heath GL2200-24 for the youth programs."

The audio system must handle a variety of events during the co

UK - Surrey-based Point Source Productions is continuing to promote up and coming lighting designers by supporting the Brit School for Performing Arts and Technology with its Autumn production, Pro Fusion which is being staged by Year 13 music students. The production is a fusion of all types of original music from ballads to rock, the diverse requirements of which have provided the designers with a challenge.

Point Source Productions, in conjunction with Martin Professional, has supplied the moving light rig which includes Martin's new MAC 550 moving head luminaire, launched last month at the PLASA Show. The lighting team, headed by Dan Saunders (moving light and set designer), had just five days to rig/plot the moving lights and AV, set and sound - all this around a hectic rehearsal schedule and every day college life. This is standing them in good stead for the reality

Ireland - Sound Communications, Ireland's distributor for Midas and Klark Teknik, has recently supplied a complete PA system to Ireland's largest AV rental company, Corporate AV Services (CAVS) for a brand new television show that goes out live from the Helix Centre in Dublin every Friday night. Two Midas Legend 3000 consoles and a significant amount of Klark Teknik processing equipment including eight classic DN360 graphic EQs, eight DN500 Plus dual compressor limiters, four DN514 Plus quad gates, and four DN1248 Plus active mic splitters form the heart of the package.

The Dunphy Show, hosted by Eamon Dunphy, is Ireland's brand new talk show styled very much in the David Letterman mould. The show goes out every Friday at 9pm from Helix's second theatre, which has essentially been converted into a TV studio for the duration of the show's 30-week run. According to Sound Communica

Germany - Guitar legend Carlos Santana and his band are currently on a world tour which is turning into a global triumph for the Grammy Award winner. The German leg of the tour is proving no exception - selling out major venues like Munich's Olympiahalle several times over.

Providing the sound system for the tour is British rental company Major Tom Ltd / Sound Image, who have made the Electro-Voice X-Line and XLC PA system the centrepiece of their production. Major Tom's Chris Marsh, explains why: "We were all agreed that the EV X-Line has the most brilliant sound of any comparable system. It offers impressive clarity at the top and remarkable warmth at the bottom." As side-hangs, FOH man Rob Mailman and his team are using Electro-Voice's new, compact XLC system with eight cabinets per side. The system is being driven with Electro-Voice P-3000 amps.

For Major Tom Ltd

UK - PLASA exhibitors are being targeted by a premium rate phone line scam. Faxes have been sent to exhibitors overnight, including to the PLASA head office in Eastbourne, requesting that product and cost information be faxed back to the sender. The return number is an 090 - premium rate - fax number, which will cost the caller £1.50 per minute. The letter comes from 'Total Information Service UK - or 'TIS UK'.

In the short-term do not send any information through as T.I.S. UK is not a legitimate buyer, although the company is not doing anything illegal. In the long-term, you can register with the Fax Preference Service (FPS), which can help ensure that your fax number is not available to companies who want to fax you with promotional material that you do not want to receive. Companies using fax marketing are legally obliged to ensure that they do not fax numbers that have reg

UK - Robe UK has supplied its Wash 250 and MSZoom 250 XT moving lights, via Caterham-based Total Europhia, to the Sundial Theatre, located on the campus of Cirencester College, Gloucestershire. As well as being an active producing house for student productions of all types - including six major events a year - the theatre is also a receiving house for visiting commercial shows, tours and concerts, and is also available for private hire for parties and corporate events.

The theatre also serves as a hands-on training ground for students on the BTEC National Diploma in Technical Theatre and for the College's various A-level courses, which also encompass drama and technical production. All students touching any aspect of theatre production work in their courses train in the Sundial. They also have the opportunity to be part of the creative and technical teams running the various in

Italy - Clay Paky provided sponsorship for the fourth annual Live Festival Show 2003, which kicked off in Castelfranco Veneto, and was followed by a tour taking in a further 12 locations around the Triveneto area, home to radio stations Radio Bella & Monella and Radio Birikina. On 13 September in Bassano del Grappa, the special guests were popular Italian band Pooh, who provided the grand finale of the 2003 Festival Show, with their only live performance this year.

Other shows featured artists such as Spagna, Scialpi, Yu Yu, Los Locos, Moony, La Finn, Andrea Mingardi, Roberto Angelini, Paolo Meneguzzi, Velvet - and even cycling champion Gilberto Simoni, winner of the 2003 Italian Tour (Giro d'Italia). Over 200,000 people were estimated to have attended over the 13 dates of the Festival Show 2003.

Lighting designer and owner of Xenon service, Renato Neri, in collaboration with

USA - The Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre in South Florida has installed a 48-input Allen & Heath ML5000 27-buss live sound VCA console in its 600-seat main-stage auditorium as part of an audio system upgrade. The Miracle Theatre, a private/public partnership with the City of Coral Gables, is a performing arts facility that also includes the 300-seat Balcony Theatre and 100-seat Black Box Theatre.

Head audio engineer Alexander Herrin, who has been at the theatre for a year and a half, explains: "This summer we decided to upgrade our sound system. We were replacing a three or four-year-old console that had just fallen to pieces. They asked me what I thought we should get. I'd worked with the GL4000 in the past and told them that I really like Allen & Heath. Phil Mester from StageTech, who installed the system, brought us a console to try out, a 32-channel ML5000.&qu

Germany - One of Autograph Sound's longest-running success stories is its ongoing work on worldwide productions of Les Misérables. Most recently, the show opened in Berlin, with sound design by Nick Lidster who was part of the original sound department when the show opened at the Palace Theatre, London in 1985. This is Lidster's first design of Les Misérables and it gives him the chance to view it with a fresh but experienced approach. His updated design now includes four Martin W8LC (Martin's new Compact Line Array) and two WSX subs, supporting the main Meyer M1D PA.

Some of the changes are due to the particular demands of the Theatre des Westens in Berlin. Lidster comments: "The Theatre des Westens is a grand, four-tier European style opera house with a large, flat stalls area and three very shallow circle areas starting around 15m back from the stage, a c

UK - Rigging specialist Summit Steel supplied massive quantities of trussing and metalwork infrastructure for the Marks & Spencer Christmas Conference 2003 at ExCel in London's Docklands. The event was produced by Pci:Live and launched the 2003 in-store Christmas collections and sales strategies to 750 M&S store managers.

The rigging element of the production was co-ordinated by Summit's Jon Bray. Using over 1,100m of various Supertruss types and 120 chain hoists, Summit created two large presentation areas in different auditoriums, occupying 9,000sq.m within ExCel. Auditorium One incorporated raked seating for 750 and featured keynote speakers, a quintet of musicians, fashion shows with dance numbers, interviews and audience participation. Auditorium Two was a star-clothed dining room, which accommodated the black tie gala dinner and entertainment.

Summit's team of 10 riggers

UK - At the eighth Grove Fuel Cell Symposium, which took place at ExCeL in London's Docklands at the end of September, the UK Fuel Cell Vision was launched by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The Vision highlighted the benefits to the UK in taking a leading role in fuel cell development and deployment, and described a pathway for fuel cells in the UK over the coming years. To help get the message across to delegates, symposium organisers Elsevier - one of the world's leading scientific information providers - contracted MCL London to provide a technological dynamic in the main conference room. MCL came up with a design that was sympathetic to the event, the centrepiece of which was a 20ft screen - surrounded by various branded panels - with rear-projected Powerpoint displays from a powerful Christie Roadie X10 DLP projector.

Nick Whitehead's lighting design was domin

Europe / Australia - The maiden voyage in the late summer of Crystal Cruises' latest example of floating luxury, Crystal Serenity, featured TiMax Audio Imaging as the centrepiece of its state-of-the-art cabaret theatre venue, the Galaxy Room. Specified by Alistair Meacham of marine audio-visual contractor MAVCO, the TiMax ImageMaker16 system was installed by the company alongside a Sony digital console, Tascam multitrack playback media and comprehensive automated showcontrol infrastructure.

The brief for the venue's LCR and multi-channel surround sound system was to immerse the audience with pre-recorded vocal, music and effects beds in Gershwin-style cabaret shows which would vary from day to day, with spectacular lighting and sound effects synchronized to song and dance troupes onstage. SMPTE timecode linked the Tascam to the console, TiMax and multi-format showcontrol system

Germany - Brown Box AV, UK wholesalers of AV and lighting solutions, is celebrating its first German installation of Audeon, its wireless personal entertainment system, at the Station One club in Bochum. The managing director of Station One, Winfried Horstenkamp, commented: "I was delighted with the speed at which our Audeon cardio entertainment system was installed at Station One. I had expected some disruption and inconvenience to members but, due to the wireless nature of Audeon, the installation was completely pain free. My members are delighted with this innovative new product and we look forward to many years of enjoyable use."

Audeon is currently one of the only quality, wireless, cardio entertainment product available on the European market specifically designed for the leisure industry that can transmit between eight and sixteen audio channels and provide exce

USA - After 22 years on Braker Lane, the staff of worldwide automated lighting manufacturer High End Systems Inc is moving to a new location in Austin, Texas. The company's new home - just half a mile away - covers 97,500sq.ft in two adjacent buildings. The main two-story building houses the sales, marketing, administrative, engineering, production and shipping departments, while the new second building features a conference room, service training area and a larger demo room.

The move offers more than physical space, says HES VP of operations Rick Thompson. "Right now, High End is spread out over three buildings," he says. "This move will provide a synergy, a more cohesive culture. This will also offer significant cost savings in the areas of productivity and utilities. It gives us room for growth with all of our new products coming up this year."

HES found

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