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UK - When the stage fly system of the Wallingford Corn Exchange was condemned by load inspectors, Philip Burton, the venue's new volunteer general manager, turned to Tomcat UK who sent their technical manager, Paul Jordan, to the venue. "The project was a challenging one for us," says Jordan, who was one of the first to survey the system. "The existing system was suspended from small tube members resting on the internals of the building's cast iron portal frames. The pulleys were of unknown origin and ropes were of different constructions. The gallery platform support structure was manufactured from a scaffold-type arrangement which had a timber top and was buried into the side stage walls without any exterior fixings. The existing header beam arrangement consisted of a 2" diameter tube slung between the cast iron portals, which had a timber beam clamped to it

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UK - Creating a big impact launch to Cancer Research UK's largest ever integrated fundraising campaign, large format projection specialists, PRG Europe, were used to project huge teaser images on to Battersea Power Station.

Ogilvy's cross media campaign, evocatively titled 'I shouldn't be here', was launched on the 4 February with DRTV advertising across 15 channels, while a second wave of press advertising and direct mail went live on the 14 February.

Working on behalf of event management specialists Event Force, PRG Europe beamed three faces on to Battersea Power Station using a 12K PANI projector. Photographed at an angle and 'key stoned' so that the projected images appeared straight, the event ran for four hours to coincide with rush hour - ensuring the launch teaser got maximum exposure.

Chris Stephens, project manager at Event Force Ltd commented: "Having contact

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UK - Before Christmas, Mushroom Event Services washed St Paul's Cathedral with colour for Cancer Research UK's biennial Carol Concert. The cathedral is Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece and one of London's most famous landmarks. The best-known aspect of the building, the West Front, was revealed earlier this month, following an 18-month extensive programme of cleaning and repair. And it was here that church-goers entered beneath a beautiful mixture of magenta and blue light produced by a combination of high powered colour changers and conventional lights, with gobo projections creating the effect of falling snow. At the end of the concert, the design was changed to include stars projected onto the Baroque towers on either side of the main façade.

"We've had a fantastic reaction to this project," comments Mushroom's Paul Butler. "It's always a great pleasure to

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Germany - Mega Audio, the German distributor for InnovaSON digital mixing consoles, has supplied an Sy80 to the Estrel Convention Centre in Berlin, part of Europe's largest convention, entertainment and hotel complex, boasting 1,125 rooms and suites, five restaurants, two bars and a beer garden. The Convention Centre itself offers a total of 15,000sq.m of event space including the 4,800sq.m convention halll - which can be partitioned as required -as well as four galleries, a VIP area and a range of further conference rooms and foyers. The InnovaSON console, which replaces an old analogue board, is configured with a stagebox, seven SI8D3 mic/line input cards, two XO8D2 processed output cards and a set of digital in and output cards.

Thomas Herzberg, head of the Estrel Convention Centre's technical department, chose the Sy80 for its flexibility and easy handling. "Since we a

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USA - The Black-Eyed Peas, helped "get it started" at this year's 47th Annual Grammy Awards show with fellow Shure endorsers and Best New Artist award winners, Maroon 5. The Black-Eyed Peas performed 'Let's Get it Started', which won the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, using Shure U2/58 microphone systems, while Maroon 5 opted for U2/Beta 58 systems to sing their hit, 'This Love'. "This year was an incredible showcase of talent across every genre of music from hip-hop to country to rock," said Shure artist relations team member Ryan Smith. "Bono said it was the best Grammys ever and I would agree."

Several other Shure endorsers walked away with Grammy awards on Sunday night, including:John Mayer, who won Song of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the song 'Daughters' from his album 'Heavier Things'; Ozomatli receiv

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USA - When the ACME Comedy Theatre in Los Angeles changed hands and underwent extensive renovation, technical director Mike Cernicky needed a new console that was powerful and flexible, yet at a price point that the theatre could afford - and he chose a Fat Frog from Zero 88. The Fat Frog first came to Cernicky's attention two years ago while helping out on a low-budget production. "The rental house gave us a killer deal," says Cernicky. "Nobody else seemed to want to spend the time to learn the console, so I sat down with the Fat Frog manual for about five minutes and then began programming the show!"

A friend of Cernicky's, Travis Oates, bought the 15-year old ACME Comedy Theatre and asked him to supervise the renovation of the theatre's technical elements. Cernicky brought two second-hand High End Technobeams to the theatre and immediately realized that t

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UK - Located in the heart of the capital on Trafalgar Square, Albannach is one of the hottest openings of the year. A brand new contemporary Scottish bar and restaurant Albannach is offering the best in food and drink along with the latest technology in sound and lighting to provide an unusual location for corporate meetings, events and product launches.

AV systems integration specialists, The Sound Division Group was called in to design, specify and install the audio visual system throughout, which includes LCD screens for laptop presentations, a 12ft projection screen with a powerful Mitsubishi projection system on the lower ground floor, and a 50" plasma screen in the VIP room. All are equipped with the usual DVD, CD and VCR facilities along with terrestrial and SKY TV feeds.

The brief was for a fully integrated and zoned audio visual system with the ability to route a

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UK - A new late-night twin-scene - Club East and Persia Lounge Bar and Restaurant - has been opened by The Chapman Group in Worthing. Fitted by locally-based Marshall Technical Solutions, it draws heavily for its decorative effects on a wide range of LED lighting sourced from the catalogue of Lighting Effects Distribution.

James Bryant, who runs MTS, explained that this is the third time he has fitted out the venue, previously known as XS. "The Chapman Group were looking for ideas to create a wow factor - particularly on the dancefloor of Club East - and so we decided to augment the traditional disco lighting with LED effects. At the same time we wanted to enhance the general mood of the bar and restaurant with some general colour-changing washes. This is by far the biggest LED project we have carried out - and for each application Lighting Effects Distribution were able to

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UK - Harrods - one of the world's premier department stores - blazed the eco friendly technology trail as one the first retail establishments to invest in a fixed installation of James Thomas's PixelLine LED fixtures. The PixelLine battens created another dimension to the windows and were chosen for their flexibility, their energy saving properties, low heat emissions and easy maintenance requirements.

A total of 26 units grace eight of the famous main display windows running along the prime Knightsbridge façade of the building. The battens run the full width of the rear of the windows, washing the back walls and offering a massive range of colours.

The creative potential of Pixel LED fixtures initially came to the attention of Harrods after they were used to illuminate a special installation window display promoting the James Bond 007 movie at the end of 2002. The lighting s

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UK - Reynolds of Raphoe, directed by Liam and Declan Reynolds, was responsible for the sound installation of D.A.S. Audio products at the Quaywest Restaurant and Winebar located in Derry, Northern Ireland's second largest city. This unique space situated on the Foyle River offers an attractive ambiance spread over two floors. Good food and great music both play a part in the experience of a visit.

To differentiate the sound in the dinning area and the bar, Reynolds of Raphoe created two zones. For the restaurant area, located on the second floor, the system is based around the D.A.S. Factor 5W in white, providing the high quality background music required for a locale of this type. The bar area, requiring a more predominant sound, was fitted with white D.A.S. DS-8 two-way systems. These high-output, compact enclosures are ideal for a wide variety of installations requiring a hi

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Europe - Celebrating the 35th anniversary of the legendary album, The Who's Tommy has hit the road for a 20 week European tour with a lighting rig supplied by PRG Europe. The original Broadway production has been so well received that it was nominated for six Drama Desk Awards, including one for Outstanding Lighting Design.

After changing its lighting and sound suppliers at the last minute, the producers, Theatrical Management Group (TMG), put the job out to tender across Europe with PRG Europe's Croydon office winning the contract. Alan Thomson, Loz Wilcox and the team at PRG Europe, along with production electrician Simon Needle had only two weeks between getting the contract and having to ship to Frankfurt.

Simon Needle explained that to accommodate the huge lighting rig within the turnaround times - just one and a half days including traveling between each gig - the

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USA - Composer Brian Wilson was honoured recently as the Grammy MusiCares 2005 Person of the Year. To celebrate his musical, humanitarian and philanthropic accomplishments, a special all-star tribute concert and silent auction was held 11 February at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.

Delicate Productions of Camarillo, California, supplied the good lighting vibrations with a package featuring High End Systems equipment. LD David 'Gurn' Kaniski and crew chief Andy Figuroa took charge of the rig of 18 Studio Beams, 16 Studio Color 575s and 12 Studio Spot 575s. A Wholehog 2 console with a Wing was specified for control. The Palladium rocked out with performances by Backstreet Boys, Barenaked Ladies, Jeff Beck, Michelle Branch, Jamie Cullum, Earth, Wind & Fire, India.Arie, John Legend, Darlene Love, Shelby Lynne, Fred Martin & The Levite Camp, Michael McDonald, Red Hot Chili P

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UK - When Umbaba opened to a select clientele recently, it completed a trio of exclusive London West End venues equipped from the ground up with ATC transparent reference monitors. Overseen by acoustician Nick Whitaker, the Umbaba system came about as a development of the PA they had designed and installed at Aura and Chinawhite. The guiding influence had been Freddie Moss, who has a strong financial stake in both Aura and Chinawhite, and was introduced to the ATC sound by Whitaker himself.

ATC's method is to use recording studio quality loudspeakers in slightly greater numbers to give enhanced sound performance and extended listening comfort. "The major advantage in the greatly reduced distortion over a PA-type system," says ATC's R&D engineer, Ben Lilly. "Distortion is the major cause of listener fatigue and discomfort."

"We wanted hi-fi quality bu

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Australia - Australian hospitality entrepreneur, Geoff Haywood, has renovated one of Perth's 19th Century classic pubs, the Brisbane Hotel, appointing club specialists, Megavision, and audio suppliers, TAG, to install a new audio format.

The resurrected venue is a fusion of new design elements and classic tradition. From an audio perspective the main hospitality area splits into two zones - the Long Bar and the Beer Garden. Globally connected and able to be operated as a single system, each area can also run independently and has been custom-designed to best meet the expected use.

All the audio system zones are controlled by an 8 x 16 Allen & Heath iDR-8 digital mix processor with settings addressable via wall panels - including the eight fader PL-6 - via laptop, or using the iDR's TCP-IP address over the web.

Strategically located between The Long Bar and The Beer Garden is

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UK / Italy - The International Audio Group (IAG) has announced the acquisition of the Italian Coef brand of lighting products to its portfolio of leading audio brands. Formed in 1997, IAG comprises well known brand names such as Wharfedale hifi, Wharfedale Pro, Quad hifi and Quad Industrial. With its worldwide distribution network including subsidiaries in the UK, Germany, Australia, America and Hong Kong, the Group says it has both the manufacturing expertise and strategic positioning to develop the Coef brand further.

IAG says it will continue to manufacture the existing range of Coef-branded products for the architectural, entertainment and theatre markets but above all will inject considerable investment into research and development of new products to address the needs of those markets. However, the company will cease to operate in Italy.

In recent years, say the compan

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UK - The Sage Gateshead, the stunning new £70m home for live music in the North of England, is at the heart of the regeneration of Tyneside. Funded by the largest Arts Lottery grant outside London, The Sage Gateshead is the first building for the performing arts to be designed by Foster and Partners and aims to be an inclusive, open-for-everyone music venue. It includes two concert halls, the Northern Rock Foundation Hall for rehearsal and performance and a 25 room Music Education Centre designed to pioneer a fresh approach to musical discovery. Theatre Projects Consultants (TPC) was responsible for the technical design, working with acousticians Arup Acoustics.

Hall One, with a capacity of 1650, is the largest of the two concert halls and uses retractable acoustic curtains, as does Northern Rock Foundation Hall, whereas the unusual design of Hall Two called for acoustic banne

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UK - Birmingham-based AV installation company Argus Services is creating something of a benchmark for sound reinforcement systems among the leading football clubs in the UK, having recently installed Martin Audio's AM Stadium Series loudspeakers cabinets at three Premier Division clubs.

The latest to install the specially-designed weather-proofed cabinets is West Bromwich Albion FC. Argus has added seven AM15 cabinets to the main stand at West Brom's Hawthorns stadium. Jerry Matthews of Argus explains that "it's a deep tiered stand, and, although there was already a single row of speakers at the front, the further you went up the rows, the less you could hear. We've had to mount a row of Martin Audio AM15s about 25ft up the stand, just about where the directors sit!" All the AM15's have been suspended on custom-built brackets. "These enable us to do everything fr

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UK - Michigan-based Thunder Audio has invested in DiGiCo D5 Live and D1 Live digital mixing consoles for its current tour with Garbage. With 25 years' experience in sound and light rental, Thunder Audio is a premier audio and full production company in both the US and the rest of the world, and they have chosen to invest in DiGiCo as their first foray into the world of digital audio mixing.

"We always said that we would take the digital plunge when it was necessary," says Paul Owen, vice-president of Thunder Audio. "We chose to go for the D5 and D1 Live with fibre optic split because of DiGiCo's excellent reputation and the request for these particular consoles on the Garbage tour. We know that we're going to have them rented out for the coming 12 months and that makes for a very sound investment."

Geoff Lissaman, DiGiCo's vice-president - Concert Sound,

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UK - The Brit Awards, now celebrating its 25th year, saw Shure hard-wired and wireless mics plus personal monitoring being utilized. Many artists chose to use the combination of Shure Premier Wireless with a Beta 58A capsule. Those included four Brit nominee, Natasha Bedingfield who performed Chaka Khan's disco classic 'Ain't Nobody' with her brother Daniel. Another stunning duo to use Shure Premier Wireless were Jamelia and Lemar who performed a raunchy version of Robert Palmer's 'Addicted to Love'; both urban artists were nominated for several awards. Winner of Best UK Solo Artist, The Streets was another Shure wireless user delivering his recent UK number one track 'Dry Your Eyes'. Furthermore, arguably the highlight of the evening, Robbie Williams and Joss Stone chose to use Premier Wireless whilst performing Robbie's 'Angels', for which he received the Best Song Award. Joss

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UK - SDD Sound & Light has just completed the updating of lighting control hardware and software for the Magna Carta Arts Centre in Staines, Surrey. The centre plays host to a wide range of events from pantomime, concerts, musical theatre through to school drama festivals. Technical expertise is also wide ranging from users who have worked in the West End to school age children. Needless to say, with this in mind it was important that a new lighting desk should be easy to understand and yet powerful enough to satisfy the needs of the users.

Remaining with Strand products was the obvious choice and with the increasing number of clients using intelligent lighting in their productions, SDD finally settled on the 350 channel, 520i to replace the ageing Strand LBX. Clive Walker, the Arts Centre manager, said: "Our relationship with SDD goes back to the early years of the centre

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USA - For the eighth consecutive year, New Life Church in Colorado Springs is preparing for its popular Easter production of The Thorn, with a new setting and lighting design in place. The 8,000+ seat New Life Church Worship Center features a state-of-the-art lighting system to augment the variety of services and productions planned for the venue. Terry Taylor, lighting director for the facility, consulted with Peter Maurelli from Barbizon Light of the Rockies in Denver to decide on the perfect arrangement for the church's busy schedule. Naturally, The Thorn was a major focus.

With the new Worship Center in place to showcase the performance, Taylor needed the lighting to be perfect. The decision was made to install the Wybron Autopilot II system with 22 x.Spots in the ceiling and four on the floor, plus eight High End Systems 575 Studio series in the ceiling, for

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UK - XL supplied two of its new DP HD35 projectors and a newly released Barco Folsom Encore SC control system along with a digital three-camera PPU for Pizza Hut's 2005 sales conference in the Monarch Suite of the Hilton Metropole in London. The conference was followed by an awards dinner and dance. The event was produced by Beki Gaskin working for Breeze Marketing; XL's project manager was Greg Rice and Mel Davis handled the event production management.

The two projectors - each displaying 1920 x 1080 pixels - were rigged for rear projection using a soft edge overlap, and giving a full screen display area of 3200 x 1080 pixels across the 12m wide asymmetric surface. Gaskin has produced the show for the last nine years and this year wanted to attempt something radically different. The highly flexible Barco Folsom system enabled her to break the mould not only in live video effe

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Denmark - A large quantity of DPA Microphones including 14 DPA 4011 cardioid mics, 10 DPA 4022 compact cardioid mics, eight DPA 4006 omnidirectional mics, 32 4061 miniatures and 22 4066 miniatures are in use at the new Danish Opera House in Copenhagen. The opera house, which is one of the most advanced in the world, was inaugurated with a gala performance on 15 January 2005.

The new venue is a gift to the people of Denmark from Danish businessman Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, and home to the Danish Royal Theatre, with whom DPA Microphones enjoys a close relationship. The Danish Royal Theatre has assumed technical responsibility for the venue, and the mics were specified by Claus Wolter, head of sound for the Royal Danish Theatre and Opera. "I have to believe in the quality of every single piece of equipment we use in our daily work, and that's why we always have different type

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UK - The National Theatre has just completed a refit of the main proscenium loudspeaker system in the Lyttelton Theatre, using Opus Audio Developments loudspeakers, amplifiers and controllers. Adam Rudd, Sound Supervisor for the Lyttelton, together with members of his team, went through a lengthy evaluation process to find the system that gave them the most natural sound quality and best coverage.

Adam Rudd explains, "We've had various systems in the Lyttelton over the years, but never one we were completely satisfied with. Up for evaluation were the usual systems you'd list for top quality theatre and Alan Lochhead also approached us with the Opus products. I have to say that there was some scepticism before the listening tests but it soon became clear that the full Opus system of loudspeakers, amplifiers and controllers were in a league of their own as far as accurate, n

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