Business

Details
International - Rod Stewart hit the road this spring to commence a world tour in support of his double platinum release, The Great American Songbook: Volume II. The tour, which began in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, will continue through US and Canadian arenas through the end of August before moving overseas.

The show is presented in two parts, opening to a basic rock and roll set, with Rod and band performing high-energy songs from years past, then transforming for the second half to represent a vintage music hall, complete with heavy gold drapes and back-up orchestra. Here the audience is treated to several highlights off The Great American Songbook: Vol. II.

To enhance the spectacular performance, international staging solutions provider Creative Technology is supplying large screen, high-resolution projection technology, including Watchout, Dataton's multi-display production

Details
UK - Star Rigging provided the rigging requirements for Westlife's Turnaround tour, to ensure the group could incorporate their latest stunt to get them close to their fans. The production focal point of the show was an aluminium catwalk lowered from the ceiling, on which the band performed four numbers over the heads of the audience. Star Rigging ensured the catwalk was rigged and lowered safely at each of the shows. The complete catwalk was 120ft long and incorporated an aluminium mesh walkway with a circular stage at the end, with Perspex flooring allowing the crowds to see the band throughout their performance. During the show, the giant catwalk was lowered out of the arena roofs to a 3m height above the heads of a delighted audience.

Star Rigging's Phil Broad designed the rigging plots and programmed the company's Ibex motion control system, ever mindful of the safety of th

Details
UK - The Beautiful Night concert on 1 May marked the climax of the BBC's Music Live festival, with two D5 Live digital mixing consoles forming part of Britannia Row's system for the event. The Music Live Festival was an 11-day event, which took place throughout Northern Ireland from 23 April to 3 May. Presented by Patrick Kielty, Beautiful Night was an 18,000 capacity free concert in Belfast city centre. It was also broadcast on TV, radio and online throughout the UK, bringing the music of Ronan Keating, Gabrielle, Jamie Cullum, Zucchero and Brian Kennedy, as well as Alanis Morissette, Bob Geldof, The Divine Comedy, Katie Melua, Kila and Moya Brennan, alongside unique footage from Ash and Westlife, recorded from a special performance on the Laganside floating stage on 28 April as part of the BBC Music Live Festival.

Brit Row's Bryan Grant said: "Knowing that it was a multi

Details
Germany - The next Showlight may still be a year away, but 15 companies have already signed up to participate at the 2005 event in Munich. With ETC, transtechnik Lichtsysteme, Avolites, MA Lighting and VLPS Lighting Services just some of the well-known industry names getting involved, Showlight 2005 promises to be one of the best yet.

As an event which allows lighting designers, manufacturers and suppliers to meet and discuss ideas, the previous Showlight was described by one lighting designer as "the best industry event I've ever attended". Taking place every four years, each time at a different location, Showlight is organized by lighting professionals for lighting professionals. In 2001, with more than 42 exhibitors, over 300 delegates from the world of entertainment lighting passed through Showlight's doors.

They were treated to an impressive array of speakers, i

Details
UK - Liverpool-based Adlib Audio has undergone a management restructuring exercise designed to optimise the administrative efficiency of the Adlib group. Adlib Audio Hires had acquired Adlib Audio Sales in a move establishing a new company - Adlib Audio Ltd.

The former directors of hires - Andy Dockerty, Dave Kay and Mark Roberts - will now be working alongside the two previous directors of sales - Ken Dockerty and Dave Fletcher. All other elements of the company, names and faces remain the same. This new streamlined Adlib Ltd format will continue to trade across its three main areas of operation - rental, design/manufacture and sales.

The move was also partially stimulated by the massive recent increase in activity for Adlib's sales and installation divisions, allowing more resources and personnel to be at the disposal of those departments.Andy Dockerty says: "With major

Details
USA - The Cloud, an enormous architectural canopy and media platform, stands as a dynamic beacon at Fashion Show Mall, the largest shopping destination on the Las Vegas Strip. The Cloud is an elliptical steel superstructure, an architectural canopy, larger than a football field that hovers 20 stories above the entrance to Fashion Show on the Las Vegas Strip.

The structure is designed to provide shade over a 72,000sq.ft outdoor plaza, and also to serve as a media platform to showcase fashion. At night, The Cloud's skin, an aluminium frame covered with sheet metal, becomes a projection screen. Martin luminaires are used to paint the surface in various colour shades while 6,000W PIGI projectors provide advertising content onto The Cloud. Four large LED screens totaling 30 x 160ft sit below the structure.

Martin's Las Vegas office head Tim Brennan worked with Adam Steyh of lighti

Details
USA / UK - BBE Sound Inc has appointed LAX Professional Products to handle all sales and distribution of its product line in the UK. These include the BBE Sonic Maximizer, stereo and mono crossovers, dual compressor, tube and non-tube bass preamps, plus active and passive direct boxes. LAX managing director, Robin Rebbeck has in turn already appointed a number of key dealers for the device, which adds improved clarity, definition and punch to both live and recorded sounds - including the renowned John Henry. "I believe," says Rebbeck, "there's an untapped demand for this product, not only in MI, but also in the professional audio and DJ markets too. Right now we are generating serious interest in the BBE Sonic Maximizer in England, with Ireland my next port of call."

(Lee Baldock)

Details
UK - Steljes Hire, trade distributor of audio-visual and electronic presentation equipment, has added two video conferencing products to its portfolio - the Polyspan View Station 512K and the The Polyspan View Station 512K MP.

The Polyspan View Station 512K system has an automated camera, power microphone, and can be connected to any size screen through a projector, TV or plasma screen. Although more suitable for one-to-one usage, it's a compact unit capable of supporting larger events. The ability to feed any number of external cameras through the vision mixer enables the far end to receive the best picture display. The data transfer capability also supports the sharing of data files between conference parties.

The Polyspan View Station 512K MP system is designed for larger conferences. The video-conference displayed image can be projected on to virtually any size screen, and

Details
USA - The North American Entertainment Services & Technology Association (ESTA) has announced that two draft American National Standards - relating to Counterweight Rigging and Photometric Standards - are available to the public for review and comment from now through to 17:00 US Eastern Time on 3 August 2004.

BSR E1.4, Entertainment Technology-Manual Counterweight Rigging Systems, describes the design and construction of manually powered counterweight rigging systems. The primary purpose of the standard is to enhance the safety of these system, which are used widely in theatres throughout the world to support and move scenery and lighting equipment. The draft standard does not cover motorized systems, systems for flying performers, or systems used for moving materials during building construction.

BSR E1.25, Recommended Basic Conditions for Measuring the Photometri

Details
France - Drapes and rigging specialist Blackout has collaborated with set and lighting designer, Alain Lenchampt, to help realize the set for French superstar Henri Salvador's recent tour which celebrated 70 years of the jazz/cabaret crooner's illustrious career and covered all of France's main cities, starting with performances at the Palais de Congres in Paris, attended by over 3,800 fans per night.

Blackout France's project manager, Damien Slaney, headed up the team and was responsible for designing and supplying a massive 27m x 9m drop cyclorama, which played a central role in the set design. Fabricated out of ecru-filled cloth at Blackout's UK headquarters in South London, it divided the set between a jazz combo downstage centre and a 40-piece orchestra behind.

Offering a huge semi-circular blank canvas, the cyc was used by Lenchampt, to create a stunning barrage of light

Details
Germany - Having been used for opera and rock and roll, HK Audio's Cohedra (Coherent Dynamic Response Array) system has been used at its first techno music place at the German Mayday festival. Starting early in the evening on 30 April in the Westfalenhallen, Dortmunder, the sold-out event attracted 23,000 hard-core techno fans.

Mayday consisted of three separate dance zones in the Westfalenhallen, a multi-purpose indoor events centre. The largest was held in the 13,000-capacity indoor cycle racetrack, while two smaller areas accommodated around 5,000 people each. The Cohedra system was rigged in Area 3, which hosted a plethora of German DJs as well as Detroit techno legend Jeff Mills and Norwegian musician/production team Röyksopp. HK Audio's Jorg Knieschewski, who spent more than two years conducting the acoustic engineering for Cohedra, configured the system into four identic

Details
UK - Theatre sound specialist Orbital and the National Theatre's sound department have combined forces to deliver the fourth five-day course for stage management and technical theatre students keen to pursue sound as a career. Theatre sound is advancing at a rapid rate, driven by technological developments and the growing expectations of directors, producers and audiences. Both Orbital and The National say they are concerned that there is a skills shortfall - that young people entering the industry have little experience of the latest technology and techniques.

Building on the success of its previous years, over 20 students attended the complementary course from 10 drama schools nationwide. Benefiting from the opportunity to gain an extra level of technical skill and artistic understanding, their "skills-set" is expanded to enable the level of competence necessary in c

Details
Denmark - Capped by a vaulting glass mosaic dome, the new conference room at Danske Bank's headquarters in Copenhagen is one of Europe's more graceful presentation venues. Designed for a maximum 150 capacity, it is a classicist's vision of light and space. But roll down the projection screen, dim the lights, cue the show, and technology begins to impose its presence in a subtle fashion that belies its potency. "The bank approached us with a good brief, very specific in terms of application, but quite open when it came to equipment," explained Jesper Rosgaard of Informationsteknik, the company charged with defining and providing a complete AV system for the conference room.

"Danske Bank had several clearly-defined needs: they wanted a facility that could accommodate events of widely varying scale and complexion, so a dominant demand was for flexibility of equipment

Details
UK - The Theatre Royal Haymarket re-opened last night following its unexpected enforced closure when part of the plasterwork in the ceiling fell into the auditorium during Saturday evening's performance of When Harry Met Sally.

Approximately 750 people were evacuated from the building and 13 members of the audience were treated for cuts, bruises and shock on site before being taken to University College and St Thomas' Hospitals. One woman is apparently still in hospital having suffered facial injuries - all the others have been discharged. Emergency services had been called around 10pm and fire crews spent over an hour at the sight checking that the ceiling was secure.

In 1994 1.3 million pounds was invested in a major refurbishment of the Theatre Royal, which included an overhaul and reinforcement of the stage roof trusses, originally installed in 1821, and art restor

Details
UK - Chubb, a leading provider of security and fire protection services, has recently collaborated with PA/VA specialist Millbank to provide multi-purpose integrated systems into Swansea's new Maritime Museum, Swansea FC's White Rock (Morfa) Stadium, Newport's impressive new Theatre and Arts Centre and the new Welsh Assembly Building in Cardiff.

As four of the most exciting new multi-million pound new build projects ever seen in Wales, Millbank's CEO Neil Voce and Chubb's customer accounts manager, Scott Philips, worked closely to ensure that each system achieves their exacting specifications.

Scott Phillips explained: "Millbank's support has been invaluable and played a vital role in winning these prestigious contracts. It's terrific to work with a forward-thinking company whose product range and technical know-how enables us to provide such versatile and cutting-edge sy

Details
UK - Manchester-based installation company Kelco UK Ltd has become the first official UK dealer for EM Acoustics loudspeakers, and has consolidated this with an installation of EM Acoustics' products in new Nottingham nightclub, Stealth.

Although the main club system comprises Funktion One's Dance Stacks and Resolution systems, Kelco owner David Kelland saw EM Acoustics products as the ideal solution for DJ monitoring and infills at the venue. Consequently, each DJ area contains a pair of EMS-121 (12" x 1") full-range enclosures, innovatively mounted on poles built into the DJ console and wired through the pole-mount for security. The club's stylish VIP area contains four EMS-81 (8" x 1") full-range enclosures, discreetly mounted around the neon-lit two-level ceiling, using the enclosure's own internal M10 rigging points.

Of the products, Kelland says: &quo

Details
UK - Leading UK lighting rental house Siyan was the first is the UK to showcase the new Italian manufactured SGM Giotto Spot 400 CMY moving light fixtures. They were in action on the Princes Trust Urban Music Festival held at Earls Court. It was the first such event in the UK and the star-studded line up included Jay-Z, Beyonce, Jamelia, The Streets, Roots Manuva, Alicia Keys, Dizzee Rascal, Lemar and many more.

The deal to make the Italian brand's new fixtures available to Siyan came via a deal with SGM's UK distributor Lightfactor, as Siyan's Bryan Leitch was keen to put the lights through their paces. The sold out event took over the whole of the Earls Court complex, Leitch designed an overall rig to illuminate both for the live event and for the TV, incorporating a large main stage in Earls Court 1, the Battle stage in the same room - 'behind' the FOH position, and extensive

Details
UK - London's Natural History Museum is using Allen & Heath's iDR DSP system to manage audio distribution for the its Darwin Centre, a new development hosting daily live events, as well as housing precious collections, new laboratories, and access behind the scenes for visitors.

The Darwin Centre live events bring resident experts and specialists from around the world to talk about their work or explore significant specimens from the Museum's collections. The free events, which are also webcast on the Museum's website, are informal and lively with audience participation encouraged. However, the Museum found that the audio system was unable to cope with the demands resulting from live situations and selected Allen & Heath's iDR DSP system to replace it.

"The original audio equipment, designed before the Darwin Centre opened in 2002, was unable to separate microphones indi

Details
Europe - A Flying Pig Systems Wholehog III is now touring Europe in Tosca Amore Disperato, a modern remake of Puccini's opera, Tosca. Composed and directed by Lucio Dalla, the show is a new creation that mixes elements of a musical with a movie, but live and onstage and runs through to September in Europe.

LD Marco Macrini and lighting director Pasquale 'Paco' Toscano have specified 36 High End Systems X.Spots. Toscano commented: "X.Spot is a very good spot, powerful and silent. They're also using High End Systems 12 Cyberlight Litho automated luminaires. Lighting is supplied by A-Team Service.

This show marks Toscano's first time with a Wholehog III, in fact he has only used its predecessor - a Wholehog II - a couple of times to carry out simple functions. He continues: "I am not a Hog user, so when the A-Team Service asked me if I would like to use a

Details
UK - Mike Lethby, co-founder and director of Gasoline Media alongside Sarah James, has formed a new entertainment technology-focused PR, copywriting and marketing consultancy, MLM (Mike Lethby Media), while Sarah James will remain at Gasoline Media in the role of managing director.

MLM, which opened its doors on May 1, will work within the entertainment technology, production services and events sectors, and will also provide clients with photography, design and technical authoring facilities. Startup clients include Renkus-Heinz, the Ampco/Flashlight Group and Richmond Studios. A new office address will be announced soon. Gasoline Media will continue to represent DiGiCo, Lighthouse, MC2/Quested and XTA, among others, from its Leatherhead, Surrey offices.

Lethby comments: "After three-and-a-half successful and exciting years together, Sarah and I have different ideas on h

Details
UK - UK - Continuing what will be a busy season for new musicals in London is Beautiful and Damned, set in the 1920s and telling the tragic story of Zelda Sayre and F. Scott Fitzgerald. White Light and The Moving Light Company supplied lighting and Autograph Sound Recording supplied a complete audio and communications system.

LD Nick Richings design included both conventional and automated lighting. The automated rig from The Moving Light Company includes 10 Martin Mac500s, 10 Martin Mac2000 Profile and eight Vari-Lite VL2000 Wash units. The conventional rig features over 100 ETC Source Four profile spots with 10°, 19°, 25°, 36° and 50° lenses, the 10° units using 750W lamps; 40 Par 64s, 12 Selecon Pacific 90°, 20 Strand Prelude fresnels, 10 Thomas four-cell battens and eight Thomas two-circuit MR16 battens. Control is from a Wholehog II console with two 48-

Details
UK - Already operating successful venues in Rugby and Dunstable, Ricky Pipe's RP Enterprises has converted the Loughborough Conservative Club into a new all-day music-oriented café bar to be known as Alcazar. The new venue will have cost Ricky Pipe between £500,000-£600,000 to develop. Once again he has turned to John Southee's JPS Sound & Light to design and supply the audio and visual infrastructure.

JPS has specified 22 wall-mounted, co-axial design, Wharfedale Pro Twin 12s as the main sound reinforcement system, evenly distributed throughout the 500-capacity venue. Two of the bass reflex enclosures have been deployed as reference monitors in the DJ booth (where the new Denon DN-S3000 tabletop CD player and Allen & Heath Xone:62 mixer provide the source material), and a further Twin 12 greets guests as they arrive at the front door.

The sub frequencies are handled by fou

Details
Czech Republic - 24 Robe ColorSpot 1200 AT fixtures are at the core of an innovative new installation at the 11,000 capacity CEZ Arena in Ostrava, Czech Republic. The project was part of a major technical upgrade that has been in progress at CEZ Arena for the last nine months, designed to bring the 20-year-old venue into the 21st century. Robe's Czech distributor, KVS, supplied the fixtures to installer InterSono SG.

CEZ Arena - owned by the City of Ostrava - is used frequently for high profile ice hockey events - one of the most popular spectator sports in the Czech Republic. The new technical infrastructure has now put Ostrava centre stage in the world of ice hockey, and the first major sporting event to make use of the new lighting rig was the recent International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships. InterSono won the contract after the project was put out to competitiv

Details
Turkey - Sennheiser supplied the microphone and monitoring systems, plus its technical knowledge and support, for the Eurovision Song Contest 2004. Held in Istanbul's Abdi Ipecki stadium, the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 broke all previous records with 100 million viewers expected to watch the TV coverage of the event, now in its 49th year.

Now that the number of participating nations has increased by around 50%, the Turkish television company TRT held a semi-final round ahead of the actual show on May 15. Sennheiser technology promised perfect sound for both events - even under the difficult radio transmission conditions at the venue.

Wednesday 12 May was the first opportunity for 22 competing nations to show just what they have to offer in the field of popular music, and TRT broadcast the semi-final round live on TV. The 10 best songs then proceeded to the final on the follo

  1. DHA gobos for Beautiful And Damned
  2. South West Audio use D.A.S. for Virgin Mobile
  3. Eventful Belgian Lighting Market
  4. Aromatech for Beyoncé
  5. Midas & KT: new distributor for Turkey
  6. Stagetec Distribution's TV trio
Page 652 of 1813

Latest Issue. . .