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World - Radical Lighting's new NG1 digital media server is making its debut on Coldplay's Twisted Logic world tour. The NG1 was specified by show director Bryan Leitch and lighting designer Nick Whitehouse who collaboratively devised the show that is already receiving rave reviews.

Along with the rest of the lighting equipment, the NG1 is being supplied by leading rental company Siyan. It is Coldplay's second world tour with Siyan. The last became a two-year marathon stint throughout 2003 to 2004, with Radical Lighting's RADlite media server at the core of the show.

Leitch and Whitehouse chose the NG1 this time around after their very positive experience with RADlite. "Using the latest product from Radical was a logical progression," says Whitehouse. "We also wanted to do something really big with video." Video images are beamed onto an upstage scre

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USA - Creative Technology has opened CT Las Vegas. Herb Brandt, former CT Los Angeles senior production manager heads up the new operation as general manager. Spearheading the CTLV sales effort is sales executive Virginia Groshans who has moved to CT from AVW/TELAV where she held the position of sales manager, exhibit programmes national sales group. She is responsible for developing new corporate, exhibit, convention and entertainment clients for CT, both nationally and in the Las Vegas region.

"We have long been providing our clients travelling to Las Vegas with a/v staging solutions, so it is really a natural progression that we have an operation here to better service them," says Herb Brandt. "CT Las Vegas offers clients all the advantages of a national staging company including a vast inventory of high-end equipment and skilled sales and technical staff, alon

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UK - For the second year running, KV2 Audio's ES loudspeakers headed up the field as the main FOH system for Channel 4's The Games. Filmed in Sheffield, the brief was to provide a powerful system with high intelligibility in a stadium environment but with a minimum visual impact for the TV film crews.

Robert Beck of Avid AV chose KV2 Audio's ES predominantly due to its performance at last year's show, as well as on several projects since. Supplied by FT Audio Visual of Harrogate and engineered by Sid Arthur, the whole event was a huge success for Channel 4, easily beating previous year's viewing numbers.

This is the second time recently that ES has been used for a prestigious sporting event: Dave Lowton of Sound Support made the same decision for the launch of the new England football kit in Manchester just a few weeks earlier. That experience persuaded him to invest in

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Japan - Sound engineer Jon Burton, who was working for Bjork, requested a pair of new Hebden Sound microphones is spreading. to use for her Live8 Appearance in Tokyo. The pair of mics was used for the Celeste, which played a major part in the song 'All is full of love' which was broadcast worldwide. It will also hopefully feature on the DVD. Burton said: "The gig went really well. The mics sounded great and Bjork's manager was admiring the solid Sheffield build!"

Hebden Sound MD David Anderson said: "It was great to be able to help Jon, especially with such an important event. Hopefully it will also increase people's awareness of the mics and help to prove how versatile they really are."

(Lee Baldock)

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USA - Peavey Electronics has moved the production of Crest Audio from its previous base in Fairlawn, New Jersey, to Peavey's own specialized factories in Meridian, Mississippi. Citing increased market demand for Crest Audio products in the export markets as the main reason behind the consolidation, Hartley Peavey went on to qualify his decision: "In many cases we had duplicate systems and overlapping operations that were unnecessary and costly to maintain. We're now incorporating the best methods from both operations to give us faster time-to-market and reduced costs, which will benefit the company as well as Peavey and Crest Audio consumers."

With the recent addition of Meridian based sales and marketing personnel for Crest Audio, and the addition of more than 150 employees to the Meridian manufacturing workforce, this move is designed to enhance the Crest Audio opera

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France - Renault has opened a new communications and presentation facility at its main plant in Flins, near Paris, installing Allen & Heath products to manage the audio requirements. The new site houses a 350-capacity theatre and 1200sq.m dining/entertainment area, which will be used to launch new vehicles to the Press and VIP, and also as a meeting space for the company's distributors and employees.

The sound system was installed by Bordeaux-based IEC-ASV and includes a 32-channel GL3300 multi-purpose live sound console for mixing live events, and an iDR-8 digital mixing processor and iDR-out expansion unit for audio distribution around the venue. Turbosound speakers are fitted throughout the venue.

The entertainment area and theatre are separated by a stage, and a partition wall enables either side to be closed off, depending on the occasion. The iDR is programmed so that wh

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Germany - During the Confederation Cup games between Argentina and Germany and between Germany and Brazil, the new Franken Stadium in Nuremberg proved beyond doubt its credentials as a World Cup venue.

German trainer Jürgen Klinsmann wasn't the only one to draw important conclusions from the matches between Germany and the artists of South American football, Brazil and Argentina. The organizers of the World Cup 2006 were also on hand to assess the state of readiness of the venue, Nuremberg's Franken Stadium, and the conclusions they drew were highly positive: the stadium is more than qualified to play its part in the world's greatest sporting event - certainly in respect of its electro-acoustic systems.

As was the case with most of the venues selected for next year's tournament those responsible for equipping the 50,000-seater Franken Stadium opted for sound systems from EVI

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UK - The PLASA Show (11-14 September) has long been acknowledged as a focal point for new developments in technology. During its 28-year history, it has seen literally thousands of new products unveiled - a trend that is very much set to continue in 2005. This drive for creative excellence is reflected in the PLASA Awards for Innovation - a series of eight awards that puts the focus firmly on the best design and development work going on across the industry.

In the months running up to the Show, leading manufacturers across the audio, lighting, AV and staging worlds will put forward the new products that they feel initiate change and further demonstrate just how creative this industry is. All the nominations will be featured in the Lighting&Sound International-sponsored Innovation Gallery, an impressive display area at the entrance to the exhibition that captures the spirit of t

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UK - South London-based PA rental company Systems Etc has purchased a new EV XLC compact line-array system, complete with EV's Precision Series power amplifiers, from Shuttlesound.

The company's new ElectroVoice package purchase includes 24 x XLC 127+ line array cabinets, four SLX 118 subwoofers, and 12 x Xsubs from the X-Line range. To power the system, there are 24 Precision Series P3000RLs, the flagship model in EV's top line of remote power amplifiers, which offers 2 x 1300W into 4/2 x 1800 W into 2 Ohms.

"It wasn't a spontaneous decision to buy ElectroVoice," says Systems Etc's Bernard Mani, "we've been researching the market for about two years. We came to the XLC line-array because it was such a good match for the work we're doing, in terms of size and format. Some of the very compact systems are not suitable for our bigger gigs, but the XLC gives us the

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UK - PSCo has become the first UK trade hire company to be awarded Gold status as a Certified Audio Visual Solutions Provider (CAVSP).

This accolade is awarded to those companies that can boast 75% of their technical sales and customer service personnel are 'Certified Technical Specialist' (CTS) qualified. The CTS credential is for audio visual professionals who have demonstrated knowledge and comprehension of the science and technology used in communications including audio, video, display and systems.

The company can now boast that 80% of its sales and 100% of its technical staff are CTS qualified, with more currently going through the process, ensuring that they now have an advanced knowledge of the AV industry and are able to apply these skills to new technologies and applications as they develop.

PSCo's investment in bringing new and technologically advanced AV products

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UK - Wavelength Stage and Events in the Midlands has filled its work diary through to the end of 2005, which the company says is a direct result of the acquisition of a new Martin Audio Wavefront W8C system: despite adding four stacks of the compact W8C system to a substantial existing inventory of Martin Audio Blackline, Wavelength says it is still sub-hiring Martin Audio cabinets to cope with demand.

Wavelength was set up by Glen Brazil, whose career as a local radio presenter gave him a insight into the business of live radio station events. Originally, Wavelength's business was the supply of staging services, with audio requirements being met through sub-contractors. In January 2005, the decision was taken to supply PA systems directly and sound engineer Dave Abbott joined the company. "I've been using Martin Audio's W8C system for years as a freelance, and have always

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UK - E//T//C UK successfully projected onto Buckingham Palace for the Final Government Commemorations of World War 2, marking 60 years since the end of the war.

E//T//C UK was working for event producers, Unusual Services, who's end client was the Ministry of Defence (MOD). E//T//C UK's Ross Ashton worked closely with the project's creative director Sheelagh Barnard to produce the show.

The projections - Images from The Archives - a five year chronological photo album of the war years - were beamed onto the Palace for the five nights running up to the weekend of celebratory events. The photomontage praised the courage of citizens and military alike throughout the War years.

E//T//C UK has projected onto the Palace before. The first time was for the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002; also working with Unusual Services and the first time this had been done legitimately.E//

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UK - DPL Production Lighting, working for Richmond Event Management and Dick Tee, architecturally lit Nelson's flagship, the HMS Victory and supplied stage lighting systems for several stages and other areas at the 2005 International Festival of the Sea in Portsmouth.

Admiral Nelson's famous vessel was lit initially for the Trafalgar 200 bicentennial celebrations, for a high ranking military function aboard the ship that also involved the Band of The Royal Marines 'Beating the Retreat' in the courtyard beside Britain's most famous warship. DPL also lit a life-size model of the X-35 Joint Strike Fighter airplane that was located there for the same event, providing a contrast between old and new military technology.

The Victory illuminations then continued all week into the Festival of The Sea, which started a few days after Trafalgar 200 ended. The Victory lighting scheme was d

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France - Digidesign had their new Venue live mixing system in both the FOH and stage positions for Live8 Paris headliners, The Cure. With Craig Duffy production managing, the show at the Palais de Versailles represented one of the highest profile events yet for the new D-Show digital console. Following in a long line of eminent FOH engineers for the headline band - including Jon Lemon, Dave Bracey and Craig Overbay - into the breach stepped the experienced Ian Nelson.

Nelson was also sound mixing his long-time charge Placebo on the same bill. "The way I planned it with both the Cure and Placebo was in order to avoid any worries about the mic levels, I put a stage box on the revolve and all the mics and satellite feeds went straight to the box."

For Placebo, Nelson simply recalled the last show he had recorded on the Venue - down in South America. "We had a brief

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UK - XL Video is supplying video equipment to the acclaimed Patti Boulaye's Sun Dance production, currently running at The Hackney Empire.

An international cast of 36 dancers, singers and musicians led by Boulaye celebrate the vibrant music, colour and life of Africa in a stunning display of ceremonial dances, rituals and initiation ceremonies, all played to the hypnotic throb of the African drum.

Projection plays a major part in the show's visuals. The resulting project is the product of seven years of planning and creative evolution. Patti Boulaye herself originally approached XL Video's theatre and arts specialist Malcolm Mellows early in the production process, to discuss how the visuals she had in mind would work onstage in an AV context. Mellows came up with some technical solutions, and XL then worked with show production manager Ben Arkell to realize Boulaye's v

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UK - A company offering turnkey solutions for the event, leisure, exhibition and retail markets has been set up - with the boast that it holds no equipment, has no warehouse and no trucks: OneBigStar, set up by Simon Taylor and Steve Yeardsley, both formerly with LiteStructures, is a production and management company which promises to deliver exactly the right skills for any particular event while ensuring clients' money is spent wisely and economically.

Taylor says: "When you take into account the time scales and budgets of modern productions, no single company can currently deliver the entire solution. It's our intent to bring together those suppliers which are right for any one particular job. We will have no favourites, just companies on which we can rely to deliver the goods."

Having been a project manager at LiteStructures for two-and-a-half years, Yeardsley is

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UK - London-based event services company PSL is putting the battle for The Ashes and all the other top matches of this year's cricket season into sharp focus, supplying the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) with giant LED screens for use inside the cricket venues across the country. The PSL package also includes a fully-equipped outside broadcast unit, with full vision mixing facilities on board.

The Lighthouse LED screens are travelling all over the UK, leap-frogging one another to meet the tightly-packed match schedule. Each screen, 6.84m x 9.14m, is mounted on a bespoke-design goalpost-type structure, which is wrapped in the corporate branding of main match sponsors, NatWest or Npower.

These 16mm pitch LED displays, configured in a 4:3 aspect ratio, are the highest resolution screens ever to tour with the international cricket matches in the UK. PSL project manager Mark

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UK - Recently mixing sound for Morning Glory, the opening act on Coldplay's UK leg of their world tour, Timm Cleasby reportedly had little trouble getting to grips with the new Digidesign Venue live mixing system. Also doubling as tour manager, Cleasby has wide experience of the new generation of digital desks, and was unfazed by the Venue.

Says the sound engineer, who toured with The Darkness for the duration of last year: "I'd had experience of Pro Tools so I knew instinctively what the plug-ins and EQs were going to sound like. With the Digidesign pedigree it's scarcely surprising that the sound is so good."By saving and downloading a number of the band's shows he was able to review his mixes at leisure. For his exposure to the modular system, which supports the industry-standard Pro Tools systems, he can thank seasoned sound engineer Robb Allen (Manic Street Preach

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UK - Sunday 10 July saw the culmination of a week of events marking the 60th Anniversary of the end of World War II, including a Commemoration Event of Reflection and Reminiscence, held in Horse Guards Parade in the presence of The Queen and members of the royal family and an invited audience of 10,000 WWII veterans and their families.

With a speech by Her Majesty, the event was hosted by Simon Callow and featured readings, humour and music from World War II, with a choir of 150, an 80 piece orchestra and a host of celebrities including Bruce Forsyth, Petula Clark, Claire Sweeney, Laura Michelle Kelly and a special - and surprise - appearance by Dame Vera Lynn. Beginning at 3pm, the event was broadcast live on BBC1 and displayed on large LED screens to the crowds lining The Mall. Working for Unusual Services to supply the lighting was PRG Europe, with Alan Thomson and Loz Wilkin

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UK - Following the success of the last PixelRange Workshop initiated by James Thomas Engineering a few months ago, another event is planned this week - again hosted by the STLD in conjunction with Stagetec. The event, to be held backstage at the National Theatre on Friday 22 July, is designed for LDs, programmers, artists, set designers and anyone else involved in lighting and the visual arts, who will get an opportunity to explore and learn more about LED lighting - the equipment, its uses, applications and control.

Featured sections will include the use of LEDS in 'lighting a cyc' with the new PixelLine 110ec batten, controlled by PixelDrive and Compulite's Vector desk. In addition, VideoDrive, the latest software from Radical Lighting, will be on demonstration as will the new PixelBrick, the PixelLine Mini Batten and the new PixelPups from James Thomas Engineering.

Start ti

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UK/USA - Audio-Technica microphones were used extensively at Live 8 concerts around the world. In particular at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in the US, and at Live 8 Africa Calling at the Eden Centre, in Cornwall.

The Philadelphia event in front of the Museum of Art, hosted by Will Smith and attended by more than half a million people, featured performances by leading artists such as Jay-Z, A-T endorsee Linkin Park, and the legendary Def Leppard, all using Audio-Technica's Artist Elite 5000 Series UHF Wireless Systems. The Tokyo Live 8 concert featured A-T endorser Good Charlotte, with Joel Madden performing on the Audio-Technica Artist Elite 5000 Series UHF Wireless System, and Benji Madden on the Artist Elite AE6100 dynamic vocal microphone.

At Live 8 Africa Calling, Senegalese Griot musician Modou Diouf and his family (O Fogum), the internationally famous ensemble of Sab

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USA - Cadac reports the Broadway debut of its acclaimed M16 remote-controlled microphone amplifier, opening last month with the musical Sweet Charity, which features sound design by Peter Hylenski (Little Women, Brooklyn, Ragtime (West End) Olivier Award nomination). Staged at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, the show is based on Neil Simon's book of the same name, with a classic score that includes hits such as Hey, Big Spender and If My Friends Could See Me Now. Directed by Walter Bobbie and choreographed by Wayne Cilento, the show stars Christina Applegate, Denis O'Hare and Paul Shoeffler. Sound equipment is supplied by PRG.

Peter Hylenski's sound design focuses on creating a warm vintage sound that reflects the show's 1960s roots, as Peter explains: "I wanted to make the music and the sound fit the piece, achieving a warm analogue sound as opposed to thinking di

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UK - The Edwardian-built Methodist Central Hall in Westminster boasts elegant marble foyers and sweeping stairways that lead to an extensive complex of halls. It was in the largest of these, the Great Hall - against the backdrop of a pipe organ - that Marquee Audio installed a central cluster of Meyer M1D self-powered loudspeakers. The venue's managing director, Michael Sharp, said that in deference to the building's splendour: "When we were ready to retire the old system we realized we would need something of high pedigree to replace it."

Another contractor had recommended marquee Audio to the project. "In addition, we had heard good reports about the company from a number of other sources, including representatives from the award-winning installation at Cheltenham Racecourse's Centaur conference centre," stated Sharp.

In designing the system, Marquee Audi

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UK - For the sixth year, the industry's annual cricket cup challenge returns to the picturesque village of Littlewick Green as the Clarion Events XI (led by Nathan Waugh) sets out to defend its title against the Sound & Lighting Industry XI. Again sponsored by D&M Professional, this popular event is an excellent way to catch up with industry colleagues in the run-up to the PLASA Show (11-14 September).

Taking place on Thursday, 18 August, the 30 overs-per-side match will be followed by a BBQ (and further socializing) in the evening. The ground itself is conveniently located near Maidenhead - and a short drive from both the M4 and M40.

To register your interest in joining the Industry XI, please contact David Atkinson at D&M Professional at the e-mail address below. Alternatively come and lend your support - plenty of Pimms moments are guaranteed!

(Lee Baldock)

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  6. Circus Nock trusts in Frog
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