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UK - Vertigo Rigging last week pulled off the daunting task of flying five giant LED video screens in heavy winds and rain, high up on the famous façade of the Odeon, Leicester Square as part of the star-studded BAFTA Film Awards gala night. The company also rigged a number of temporary structures to accommodate the media and their equipment in Leicester Square.

Designer / producer Lucy Smail of production company West Design and Production was contracted by BAFTA (the British Academy of Film and Television Arts) to turn the exterior of the Odeon, the red-carpeted scene of many a film première, into a high-visibility showcase for the awards night. She and production manager Andy Cheeseman brought in Vertigo to handle the multi-screen installation on behalf of video supplier PSL.

Project manager Paddy Burnside was in charge of a job that took a team of up to 14 riggers at a t

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UK - Bandit Lites continued its successful run of work on leading fashion industry events, supplying the Pure fashion trade show at Olympia - the UK's leading fashion industry exhibition - with lighting equipment for their main catwalk show. This aspect of the show was designed & production managed by Derek Halliday with lighting designed by Mark Strange. Bandit's Lester Cobrin has worked with this team before on many occasions, and it's proved a winning combination.

The show ran four times a day throughout the three-day exhibition, staged in Olympia's Grand Hall, showcasing the most creative and innovative designs from emerging and established fashion labels at the exhibition. Strange has designed this show for the last six years, but each year the challenges are different as he explains. "It's extremely fast moving. The models have to look good for both photographers - wi

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UK - Premier Digidesign dealer Marquee Audio has completed a twin-location training course for sound engineers and PA companies, on the Venue digital environment. Conceived as two-day workshops by Marquee's digital specialist Andy Huffer, the sessions were designed to familiarise existing and potential users with the console's operation and configuration, as well as its unique TDM plug-ins and Pro Tools recording capabilities.

In the north of England the training was conducted at Lee Engineering's facility in Lancaster by Venue specialist, Ian Nelson, assisted by Rob Magoolagan, before southern-based engineers and production companies assembled at Shepperton Film Studios where Marquee Audio are based. Here Andy Huffer was assisted by Digidesign's product support man, Andy Rimroth, and training specialist, Dave Tyler.

"We were delighted with the quality of people who regis

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UK - 19sq.m of Element Labs' VersaTile LED panels were used by the hotly tipped UK indie band Maximo Park, headliners of the 2006 Shockwaves NME Awards tour (AKA 'The Brats'). The 19 sold out dates featured the very best of burgeoning UK musical talent including the Arctic Monkeys, Mystery Jets and We Are Scientists in addition to Maximo Park. The VersaTiles were supplied by Element Labs' UK partners, Projected Image Digital to Maximo's lighting designer Stevie Marr.

Marr, a respected LD for many years, is also currently studying Interactive Media at The Arts Institute, Bournemouth, and this was his first substantial tour since starting the course. Marr produced all video content for the Tiles as part of his coursework. The tour's standard generic and moving light rig was supplied by Siyan. Marr wanted something special to differentiate Maximo's highly energetic set, and he want

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UK - Saville Audio Visual, Liverpool, have recently completed an installation at Arrowe Park Hospital's School of Health and Social Care for the Wirral Hospital NHS Trust, Merseyside.

The new annexe cost £7.6 million. The ground floor is home to a fracture and orthopaedic clinic with its own dedicated X-ray suite which will treat up to 30,000 patients in a year. The two upper floors contain a staff education centre and high-tech training facility - one of the most advanced in the UK. A central control viewing room is linked by video and microphones to the hands-on area, which can be set up as either a fully equipped Hospital Ward or a realistic Operating Theatre.

Remotely controlled zoom and pan camera feeds are recorded straight on to a hard drive. The operator can view the procedures independently or globally. On the audio side a combination of beyerdynamic MPC23 butto

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UK - The traditional new-year rush of new shows in London's West End is well and truly underway, with many of the new productions choosing White Light as their lighting supplier.

White Light rigs can be found on Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, starring Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin at the Apollo (lighting by Peter Kaczorowksi ), Blackbird at the Albery (lighting by Japhy Weideman), Caesar's Twins at the Comedy, Honour starring Diana Rigg at the Wyndhams (lighting by Jason Taylor), Creeper at the Playhouse (lighting by Mick Hughes), Embers starring Jeremy Irons at the Duke of York's (lighting by Mark Henderson ), and Resurrection Blues at the Old Vic (lighting by Rick Fisher). These new shows join other long-running productions using White Light equipment, including Billy Elliot, The Producers, Chicago, Les Miserables and <

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USA - Production Resource Group's Las Vegas operation purchased 30 Kudo line source array loudspeakers and 36 LA48a amplifiers from L-Acoustics in December. Roger Gibbons, PRG Las Vegas' general manager of touring, reports that the products were added specifically for Aerosmith and Nickelback's 2006 North American tours, both of which kicked off in mid-January.

The Kudo systems are serving slightly different purposes on each tour. Aerosmith, out on the second leg of its Rockin' The Joint tour, is employing its twin nine-box Kudo arrays as rear hangs for the show, which is selling seats in 360 degrees around the stage. Nickelback, touring in support of its latest CD, All The Right Reasons, is conversely using two arrays of nine Kudo cabinets each as auxiliary side hangs to address the left and right edges of the production's typical 270-degree seating configuration.

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UK - Denon DJ has announced that it is supporting the Waxworks Music Initiative - a social enterprise that aims to re-engage socially excluded or disadvantaged young people in Bradford by offering them opportunities to gain nationally recognised qualifications in and around music.

The company is throwing its brand cachet into the enterprise by supplying a DN-S1000 MP3 tabletop player and matching DN-X100, contained in a single soft-cased package. Working within diverse communities, Waxworks has created bespoke music programmes and accredited courses through the national open college network (NOCN). It has recently been supported by the local authorities (for its work towards their community cohesion agenda), by Bradford Vision (the local strategic partnership who oversee the regeneration of the city) and by many equipment manufacturers (such as Denon).

Waxworks has assembled s

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UK - Marquee Audio reports a prodigious year for sales of the Yamaha PM5D digital console, with numerous consoles delivered to leading UK PA companies and live TV facility companies.

In the touring world, PM5Ds have been sold to Tour Tech, Concert Sound, Major Tom, Delta Sound, John Henry's and Canegreen. The two consoles for MSL have been used for nearly 100 Jools Holland gigs. High-profile live TV specialists Jackson Post and Plus 4 Audio have also taken delivery of desks and Blitz Sound are using two in corporatre/theatre work.

Marquee's Andy Huffer has been a particular champion of the PM5D, and the importance of his input is confirmed by the experience of one customer in particular, Skan PA, which has bought four desks in ten months. Abby Llewellyn of Skan explains that, although they generally prefer to deal direct with manufacturers, Huffer's knowledge of the digital co

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UK - Working with West Design & Production, PSL, the London-based events services company, has provided one of the most visible elements of this year's Orange British Academy Film Awards in Leicester Square, central London - a massive Lighthouse LED screen hanging from the front of the Odeon Cinema, the first time such a large screen has been featured in such a way.

LED screens played a vital role in the concept of West Design & Production, the agency responsible for conceiving the design and overseeing the production of the exterior areas of the BAFTA Awards ceremony. Director Lucy Smail explains that she wanted to: "Include moving imagery rather than a static backdrop on the theatre, so we've mixed elements of the nominated films which, as you pull back, give way to more and more images. Eventually, the thousands of tiny images reveal the BAFTA mask."

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UK - Mojo Barriers joined the cream of the UK's music industry at the prestigious Brit Awards, held in Earls Court, London. Production manager Mick Kluzcynski assembled the team of leading supply companies to create a set that looked great for the live audience and the millions who watched on TV.

Mojo Barriers UK office, delighted to be part of that supply team, installed their aluminium front of stage barrier system to keep the stage and camera runs separate from the exuberant fans.

February proved a busy month for the UK office of Mojo Barriers supplying at range of shows. Managing UK operations, Jim Gaffney has overseen barrier systems being supplied to gigs by Oasis, The Darkness, Kelly Clarkson, Jack Johnson in UK Arena's in Sheffield, Newcastle and Cardiff, along with numerous smaller shows at Portsmouth Guildhall and Leas Cliff Hall, Folkstone, to promotional shows in V

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UK - Formed in 1980, West Midlands band UB40's reggae style has lost none of its appeal over the years. Their extensive touring schedule continues with Who You Fighting For. This is a show that has seen a significant change in audio equipment: DiGiCo D5 Lives now sit at both front of house and monitor positions and have been warmly welcomed by crew and band alike.

SSE Hire, a company that has a long and happy association with UB40, supplies the sound system. Front-of-house engineer Tom Wiggans has been with the band for a little over two years and his first experience with the D5 was at Live 8 in Hyde Park, where they first toyed with the idea of changing console. Although the frenetic atmosphere of Live 8 wasn't the best place to assess how the D5 performed sonically, its other features were attractive enough to awaken Wiggans' interest. "So we decided we'd give it a go in

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UK - Harlequin's Reversible dance floor played a key role at British Dance Edition 2006 when nearly 500 guests from 37 countries gathered in Leeds from 9-11 February to attend the UK's prestigious dance showcase.

Supplied by British Harlequin plc for the event, Reversible provided the dance floor surface in two main venues - The Courtyard Theatre at the West Yorkshire Playhouse and at The Carriageworks.

The organisers of the event, Yorkshire Dance and the Association of National Dance Agencies, explained: "British Dance Edition 2006 featured the latest choreography from 41 different dance companies. British Dance Edition occurs every two years, taking place in 2006 in the Yorkshire region for the very first time to fantastic reviews. Over the last decade, BDE has become one of the biggest dance events in the UK, and a main focus of any dance company's tour plans. British

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Asia - Nexo has announced the formation of a new Nexo ASIA office, situated in Hong Kong and headed by new recruit Nicolas Kirsch. As the new Sales Manager Asia, Nicolas Kirsch will manage Nexo's commercial and marketing activities in the Asia region, supporting distributors in China, Japan, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea,Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand.

Among Kirsch's key responsibilities will be the provision of technical and expert support for systems design and custom solutions, for which he is eminently well qualified, having previously worked as an Audio-Visual consultant for Ove Arup & Partners in Hong Kong, in a technical support role for ACE Hong Kong, and as a freelance sound engineer for several rental companies in Hong Kong and France.

Nexo Asia ca be contacted at GPO Box 806, Hong Kong, SAR, China. Tel: +852 9096 3472.

(L

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UK - Blackout will reveal their complete range of starcloth (coloured fibre optic, colour RGB LED, white LED and peabulb) and pipe & drape on stand G58 at this year's RSVP exhibition between 29 - 30 March, 2006 at Olympia, London.

"We literally do thousands of corporate events and parties each year and each one of them requires that special touch. The RSVP show, with over 5,000 visitors, provides the perfect platform for us to show and inspire ideas for parties and special events," comments Steve Tuck, managing director at Blackout Ltd.

Visitors and guests will be treated to a video presentation highlighting major exhibitions, parties, productions and events over the past year and will also be entertained by a surprise guest performer.

(Chris Henry)

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USA - Corteo is the title of a new Cirque du Soleil touring production that vividly portrays the funeral of a circus clown as a festive parade with a carnival-like atmosphere.

Processions - on stage and careening above it - are woven throughout the story, a theme that prompted placement of an elongated open stage down the middle of the oval Grand Chapiteau tent. The resulting split auditorium - with two facing audiences of about 1,000 each - dictated dual mirror-image audio systems. The task was assigned to veteran sound designer Jonathan Deans, and his response to the challenge was a technological tour-de-force comprising 38 self-powered Meyer Sound loudspeakers per side with mixing and control from a common LCS Audio CueConsole.

"I simply could not have accomplished my design for Corteo without the LCS console and the Meyer Sound loudspeakers," Deans

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UK - Telectra Ltd, manufacturer of the ABTT Award-winning ice*lighting system, is to change its name to Beadlight Ltd with effect from 1 March. The company says that the name change more accurately reflects the nature of its business, including the fact that the majority of products that the company designs, engineers, manufactures and markets utilise its proprietary intellectual property, Bead*light Technologies (Patents Pending). In particular, the Bead*light LED (Light Emitting Diode) diffusion system is used in the company's principal high-tech markets of the Event, TV and Entertainment Lighting and Commercial Airliner in-seat lighting.

The company points out that there has been no change in the company ownership, management or trading style. The address for Beadlight Ltd remains as B3 - B7 New Yatt Business Centre, Witney, Oxfordshire, OX29 6TJ, UK. Telephone: +44 (0) 1993

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UK - Birmingham technical services company, Presentation Service Providers (PSP), working with Ben Gallop of Brand and Deliver has just completed the provision of technical services at RBS Insurance Chief Executive Awards. The event was held at Castle Ashby in Northampton and was attended by over 300 guests.

Using PSP's range of Pixel Pars and Battens, the company provided a spectacular lighting effect over the front, back and courtyard of the historical castle venue. It took PSP's lighting director and team two days to rig and to programme the complex colour sequences. A Pearl 2004 lighting desk was used for control and Mac 250s provided moving logo's onto the building.

In total, 30 PixelLine 110ec battens, 20 Pixel Par 90s, 25 Par cans, 24 Codas and six Mac 250s were used for the event. PSP also provided sound and projection for the entire production. The Marquee, situated i

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USA - Loud Technologies Inc, owner of leading pro audio brands including EAW, Mackie, SIA and TAPCO, has announced that its common stock will begin trading on the NASDAQ Capital Market as of Wednesday 1 March, at the market open under the symbol LTEC.

"This NASDAQ Capital Market listing is an important step in our program to enhance Loud's visibility in the financial community," said chairman and CEO Jamie Engen. "As a leader in the rapidly growing professional audio industry, we believe that Loud is on the right track as we continue to implement our strategy to increase revenue, improve margins, and build value for our shareholders."

(Lee Baldock)

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Italy - Outline's products have been increasingly used at events of worldwide importance - including the Rome and London Live 8 concerts last summer. Now, the Northern Italian manufacturer's loudspeaker systems have made a considerable contribution to the sound reinforcement for the Winter Olympic Games in Turin.

Outline provided 40 Butterfly CDH 483 Hi-Pack systems flown on either side of a maxi-screen in the Piazza San Carlo, backed up by 18 floor-stacked Victor Live subwoofers. Amplification and control hardware consisted of 36 Outline T6.5 digital power amps and 2 Genius 26 processors respectively.

In the famous Piazza Castello - re-christened 'Medal Plaza' for the occasion - 18 Outline HARD 212 SP stage monitors were chosen for the large rotating stage - one of the largest ever seen - which hosted artists including Whitney Houston, Andrea Bocelli, Lou Reed, Duran Duran, J

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UK - For the second year running Stage Electrics supplied staging and lighting for the Laurence Olivier Awards, the highlight of the West End calendar, presented annually by the Society of London Theatre.

Stage Electrics provided crew together with 36 Source 4 lanterns, four MAC 250 Entours, a MAC 250+, 15 MAC 500's and 13 MAC 600's for the awards held on Sunday 26th February. Lighting design was by Matt Evered, the awards were project managed by Stage Electrics' Andrew Loveday.

Stage Electrics would like to congratulate all the Olivier winners especially Paule Constable for Best Lighting Design and Paul Arditti for Best Sound Design.

Stage Electrics have strong links to the awards and winners, especially so in the case of Guys and Dolls who were successful in securing the award for Outstanding Musical Production, Stage Electrics supply lig

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Europe - Multiple BRIT award winner James Blunt is in the middle of his latest and biggest European tour, with Skan PA Hire supplying a Midas Heritage 2000 for front of house and a Heritage 3000 for monitors.

Both engineers - Mike Hornby at front of house and Mick Brown on stage - are long time Midas users and felt that the desks were the natural choice for an organic, musical show of this nature.

"I particularly like the H3000 for the EQ and gain and it's perfect for a show like this, which is very musical with everything played live," says Brown. "We also rely heavily on the service provided by Skan - the support they give us is first class."

At front of house, Brown's comments are echoed by Hornby. "We've kept everything as simple and natural as possible," he says. "The idea is to give the whole show a kind of retro, almost seventies fee

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France - An elegant sound reinforcement solution has been delivered to the Théâtre Municipal in Coutances (TMC), Normandy, comprising Nexo's Geo S tangent-array system and CAMCO amplification.

The installation has been completed by Normandy-based audio-visual specialists A-Tech, after a lengthy selection process. After auditioning products from four different manufacturers, the Nexo Geo S system was the personal choice of the theatre's technical director. "The cabinets are so compact, and the power-to-size ratio is just excellent," explained Jean-Marie Roussel of A-Tech.

The TMC has one level of seating, with quite a marked rake. To ensure even coverage throughout the audience area, which can accommodate 800 people, A-Tech has installed left and right hangs of seven Geo S805s plus 1x Geo S830 downfill box. For subbass, there are three CD12 units on each side

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UK - In late February, Community UK held an outdoor demonstration and seminar at Love Street Stadium, home of St Mirren FC in Paisley. The stadium was hired for the day to enable Community to effectively demonstrate the company's range of high power and long-throw, all-weather systems, and is part of a series of such days being held at various locations throughout the year for the benefit of installers and audio consultants.

Community UK staff were on hand, not only for presenting the product and answering questions, but also advising on system design and projects.

Commenting on the day, Stuart Cunningham, general manager of Community UK Said: "The human ear remains the most critical instrument in evaluating how a loudspeaker performs, and hearing it in an appropriate environment is essential. Half way through the event, the Scottish weather also obliged with a hail-storm

  1. Blackout celebrates 15 years in business
  2. Cadac is an Olivier Award Nominations Winner
  3. K2 for Chanel
  4. The Theatrical Guild exhibit at ABTT
  5. Avolites Pearl is Childsplay for young LDs
  6. Maltbury Lifts World-Championship Trophies
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