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UK - PRG Europe worked with various other PLASA members to provide equipment for Vibes from the Vines, a music festival held in East Sussex in aid of Cancer Research UK on 12 August.

Lighting&Sound International's technical editor James Eade was asked to take care of lighting, and contacted his friends at PRG Europe. Project manager Sarah Cox organised for a truck-load of equipment to be sent from their facilities, and load in started at 9pm Friday finishing at 3am Saturday. Sarah says: "James and I worked till 5.30am on Saturday programming the lighting - but on the day it didn't do it for us, and in the end we lit on the fly! After all, there are no second chances, so we had to get it just right. We had a fantastic time, and were proud to be able to provide the equipment for such a good cause."

Headlining was guitarist Gary Moore, who performed with "a host of

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UK - British Turntable has helped a North West theatre company add an extra dimension to their productions by designing, building and installing a 6m diameter revolving stage at the Theatre Royal in Ramsbottom. The stage, which was supplied with a timber deck and AC drive, was built to a standard design to meet the theatre's needs in as cost-effective way as possible. The installation coincides with the design and installation of telescopic stage extensions for Bury Grammar School, demonstrating the company's ability to provide practical solutions in areas as diverse as educational establishments, commercial and amateur theatres and the events, TV and film industries.

The Theatre Royal, home to Summerseat Players, has an excellent reputation for the quality of its productions. This year's production of Witness for the Prosecution, a courtroom drama that requires scenes to

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UK - No, we're not talking about standards of excellence (well, not in the usual sense) and not a length of metal to attach lights to, either. We're talking about a large bar where industry people can meet to socialise and have a drink or two.

Socialising and networking will be very much to the fore at PLASA06: the large Central Bar's opening hours are being extended, for the first time, as it becomes the official PLASA06 After Show Bar, which will remain open until 8pm each night, following the 'soft close' of the show at 6pm.

Sponsoring the PLASA06 After Show Bar will be some of the entertainment industry's major players, including Aviom, Avolites, DiGiCo, Lab:Gruppen, Mobil-Tech, Stardraw and XTA Electronics. Those who visit the sponsors' stands will get complimentary drinks, entry into a free prize draw and the chance to win £1,000.00.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - For Pearl Jam's 2006 Tour, lighting designer Kille Knobel is using PRG's Virtuoso control console with recently upgraded 5.5 software, which PRG says provides unprecedented capabilities, speed and flexibility.

Although she was new to the Virtuoso system, Knobel says she recognised that it supports playback needs that few - if any - other consoles can handle. "Pearl Jam concerts are not like other touring shows with the same song set every night or a core set with just a few changes. My show is drastically different every time - in the course of 10 days on the tour we might do 80 different songs." With the Virtuoso system though, it's not a problem. "The Virtuoso desk has the ease of use, the quantity of faders and the very flexible playback I need."

With its dedicated palette, the Virtuoso console makes it easy to make a change when playing cue to cue,

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UK - After a major restoration project by Glasgow City Council, Glasgow's City Halls has re-emerged as a state-of-the-art music complex. Managed and operated by Glasgow Cultural Enterprises (GCE), it is the new permanent base of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

Wave Integrated Systems - a division of the Eastlake Group - were chosen by GCE and BBC Scotland to supply and install audio visual solutions to a specific design built around enhancing visitors and audience experience of the Halls' new music and education facilities. Ewen Grimes, Head of Wave Integrated Systems explains the issues that posed a challenge: "The installation requirements were complex, with 16 different areas within City Hall each having its own communication objectives. For example, there are pavement facing areas, which capture the attention of the public passing the building. Then there are recep

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USA - Clear-Com, a Vitec Group brand and the global leader of trusted intercom solutions, today announced that Canada's Cirque du Soleil has purchased additional components from its integrated portfolio of live audio communications technology. This is the third order for Clear-Com from one of the world's best known performance arts companies, and will be used to support production wide communications at Love, the latest production by Cirque du Soleil at The Mirage in Las Vegas.

Cirque du Soleil's order includes main and redundant power supply modules, 6/RU frames with 72- in/out port capabilities, user-friendly programming panels and system interfaces for interoperable point-to-point, party-line, portable camera intercoms, and 2-way radios.

The Compact-72 Matrix frame along with ICS digital matrix, IMF interface frame and CCI and RTS Party-Line products are all designed

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USA - The queen of hip-hop soul is currently touring America with her glam-but-street summer tour, the Breakthrough Experience. The two hour show is full of impassioned singing, dancing and testimonies about old demons and new revelations. It reflects a superstar performance with five costume changes and a lightshow to match.

Lighting designer Daunte Kenner, has created a rig that appears to be huge. It is carefully designed to give that illusion. The PixelLines are instrumental in the scheme, as they are attached to each of the curved pieces accentuating the radial effect. In total there are 12 PixelLine 1044s and 24 PixelArc Rs.

He explains: "The PixelLines are the eye-candy of the rig. They produce all the delicate effects, for example during one song - stars in the sky. But don't under estimate the fixture, I also use them for punchy sequences during the more p

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France - This year marks the 15th anniversary of the annual four-day Festival Des Vieilles Charrues. It was held in the city of Carhaix located in the heart of Brittany. This festival, which began in 1992 as a volunteer-led community project, with an audience of 500, has grown to become the largest music festival in France. It attracts over 200,000 festival-goers each year, making it one of the four largest festivals in Europe alongside Rock Werchter, Roskilde and Glastonbury. The festival has taken place at the Kerampuilh venue, in the outskirts of Carhaix since 1998 when it outgrew its previous location, in the village of Landeleu.

This year's show was held from 20 July to 23 July. The choice of performers for Les Vieilles Charrues Festival has always been uniquely diverse, which has set this festival apart from many of its rivals. Performing at this years festival were Numero

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Worldwide - Longtime Sennheiser endorsee, Madonna, again has the hottest concert ticket of the season in the theatrically spectacular Confessions Tour 2006. The show abounds with channel upon channel of Sennheiser wireless vocal, instrument and personal wireless systems, including Madonna's much-favoured SKM 3072 super-cardioid handheld transmitter. Sennheiser RF systems are also being used by the backing and guest vocalists and on many of the guitar systems, while all of the musicians on stage are outfitted with Evolution G2 wireless monitor set-ups.

For this globetrotting tour, Madonna's four SKM 3072 handhelds are run through a passive switcher to quickly reassign them to both front of house and monitors simultaneously. Additionally, six Sennheiser evolution 500 G2 series handheld RF microphones equipped with supercardioid 865 condenser capsules are available for the t

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UK - HSL is supplying a variety of lighting equipment to four separate performance spaces and the bar in the main C venue at the heart of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. C is the largest of four different sites containing a total of 11 venues being run by C venues at the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Across the three week Festival period, they will host over 180 different shows representing approximately 10% of the Festival's creative output - a vibrant mix of all types of performance genres including dance, drama, comedy, physical theatre, musicals, film, cabaret, events and workshops.

C stages the biggest of the C venues productions across four floors of its Chambers Street building, which is normally used as an examination hall for Edinburgh University. C +3 on the third floor and C -1 in the basement are used for most of the larger shows and musicals on C venue's busy sched

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UK - Allen & Heath consoles were used to manage sound on two stages at therecent Acoustic Festival of Britain, held in Nantwich, Cheshire. The two-day festival is in its inaugural year, and boasted an impressive line up of legendary names and a variety of styles from The Stranglers to The Cheshire Chord Company.

Local PA company, VME, was appointed to manage all the technical requirements, selecting a 48-channel Allen & Heath ML5000 VCA console at FOH position and an ML4000 on monitors in the Cheese Tent, which hosted acts including Eric Faulkener (Bay City Rollers), Elkie Brooks, Hayseed Dixie, Del McCoury Band, and Ed Tudor Pole (Sex Pistols).

The Octagon Tent showcased a diversity of international artists - some well established and others approaching the musical forefront - including Damian Etherington, Blue C, October, Jason Soudah, Red Dirt, Guy Maile, Virginia Haze, Ros

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Worldwide - The current sell-out Rolling Stones tour, A Bigger Bang, reached the shores of the UK in August 2006, with a spectacular production incorporating 350m of Mojo aluminium barriers.

Mojo Barriers' MD Patrick Jordon explained: "In May 2005 Jake Berry (production director) approached us to supply the Rolling Stones with our barriers for their US dates starting in August 2005. Having worked with the Stones before, we were delighted to be awarded the contract to supply barriers for the whole Bigger Bang World Tour. Due to commitments with U2, Jake passed the role of the tour production manager to Dale 'Opie' Skjerseth to look after the daily business on the road."

Mojo Barriers supplied 220m of black aluminium Mojo Barriers for the US stadium shows. This allowed Opie to create a specially shaped barrier in front of the stage that extended around the thrus

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UK - Loudspeaker manufacturers, don't always get enquiries they expect - as was the case when TV production house Objective Productions contacted Surrey loudspeaker manufacturer EM Acoustics with a rather unusual request.

Objective Productions, known for producing shows such as Derren Brown, were working on the first show for a series called Fear Of . . ., with the first programme dealing with Flying. The show features 'thought therapist' Lawrence Leyton, who throughout the course of the programme splits people's fear of flying into core elements, such as heights and claustrophobia. The participants are put through a series of tests to illustrate their fears, and then return to the same tests after therapy, and finally get on a plane for a real flight. To bring out the effects of claustrophobia, Objective Productions approached EM Acoustics for the use of their anechoic c

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Peru - More than 25,000 people gathered in the esplanade of Lima's Estadio Monumental recently to bask in the music of Carlos Santana. The Mexican guitarist, on tour to promote his latest album, All That I Am, had not appeared in Lima since his first visit in 1995, and a capacity crowd was on hand to welcome him back.

Sound providers Carlinho Hermes Landa and Iluminación Artistica RTA opted for a system based on Meyer Sound's MILO high-power curvilinear array loudspeaker system. Freelance system engineer Andres Cuadros commented: "For me, it was necessary to have the very best equipment," he says. "With MILO, we got excellent response from the system. As a result, the public reacted very well, because both the show and the technical production were at the highest level."

The main system was made up of 12 MILO cabinets on each side, with four UPJ-1P

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UK - On 31 August and 1 September, the Association of Lighting Designers is holding its first Forum, in collaboration with Rose Bruford College. A two-day event, the Forum is comprised of "Pick and Mix" workshops and discussions based around a central theme, relevant to modern theatre practice to help educate members and share ideas.

The "Pick and Mix" format has been designed to make the event as flexible as possible to those with work commitments. The event is free and food and drink will be provided. This year the theme is Digital Scenography. With the use of video projection and other digital media becoming more widespread in Theatre, the worlds of video and lighting are converging. The aim of the Forum is to raise awareness of this equipment and it's use, and discus how it is going to affect designers in the future.

Workshops throughout both days will

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USA - Gear-Source Inc has launched a new website specifically marketing Martin Professional pre-owned inventory. The site (www.MartinCheckMarked.com) is now online and features a 'Check Marked' program, developed in cooperation with Martin - a sliding scale system in which five Checks designates an item as almost new, with one 'Check' indicating a product that has extensive usage hours. New value-added services are under development to add further value to the program, say GearSource.

The site is the first of its kind, and although designed exclusively to move Martin pre-owned inventory, it is managed and operated through GearSource.com's complex backend site administration system.

As part of this agreement, all existing Martin dealers will have full access to the dealer level of the system, and can also gain access to GearSource dealer prices on other brands, which will appea

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UAE - Production Technology LLC, better known in Dubai as Protec, recently provided full lighting production services to their Dubai-based client, Al Nabooda Automobiles, for the Middle East's largest-ever car launch. The event took place in the iconic Sheikh Rashid Hall of Dubai's International Convention Centre. One grandMA full-size, one grandMA ultra-light and two NSPs controlled the vast variety of lights during the show.

Al Nabooda, the leading Audi distributor in the Middle East, launched the latest top of the range SUV from Audi: the Q7. The event was attended by over a thousand invited guests, including several local VIPs. The set consisted of, among others, eight hydraulic scissor lifts, four of which lifted two cars through the stage, with the other four featuring UK based pyrotechnic performers from Phoenix Productions. Eight cars were flown in from the roof of the v

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Romania - Mondy's Club - a 1,000 capacity nightclub on the Romanian Black Sea coast - has recently reopened after full redesign and refurbishment, which was completed in just 45 days. The venue leads the way in the country in many ways: it hosts the largest bar (12m long), it is the first to install large beds for the comfort of the night revellers and displays not one but two large fishtanks, one as an eye-catching backdrop to the main bar and one as a most unusual flooring to one of the bedded relaxation areas.

Local company 3 Fingers was responsible for the entire design and installation for club owners Calatis. Although all the furniture was custom-made, the walls were purposely kept bare and white to emphasise the vast LED lighting installation. A total of almost 16m of flexible colour changing Tryka LinkLED systems illuminate the main bar fishtank and the second bar front,

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France - Located in Vallée de la Maurienne, Savoie in the French Alps is the family-oriented ski area of La Norma. Henri Ratel, La Norma's mayor, and Bruno Garros, managing director of Martin Professional France, met in 2004 to discuss the idea of creating a special one-week event with dynamic lighting during the ski season. Mutual interest was quickly recognised and a plan agreed upon: Martin would provide technical know-how and equipment while La Norma would offer Martin Architectural the opportunity to invite customers to experience the resort dressed in an overall dynamic lighting concept.

The event was a success and ultimately the town's tourist office chose to invest in the lighting to illuminate both the town and the base of the ski area. La Norma wished to associate the dynamic lighting scheme with the resort's new blue and rose-colored logo as well as the town's

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Worldwide - After her last album The Emancipation of Mimi Mariah Carey has launched her World Tour The Adventures of Mimi. Beginning in Tunisia, the journey leads trough the USA, Canada, Japan and ends on 28 October in China. On the road with Mariah are two grandMA full-size consoles and four NSPs.

The MA system was great support to lighting designer Justin Collie and lighting director Michael 'Sparky' Anderson who applied among other things 56 Vari-Lite 3000 Spots, 50 MAC 2000 Wash, 38 Atomic Strobes, six 7K Syncrolites and 44 Color Kinetics Color Blasts for the lighting rig. The task of programming the show was given to programmer Demfis Fyssicopulos. He comments: "As expected for Mariah the production is as big as she is. Everywhere one looks, there's something that just can't be missed."

The performance area consists of two stages - a main stage and

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Italy - The main stage at the Umbria Jazz Festival in July relied heavily on Radian MicroWedges for the second consecutive year, with 12 RMW-1122 12" and four RMW-1152 15" enclosures providing onstage monitoring for performers such as Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Diana Krall, James Brown and Jamie Cullum. Italian sound reinforcement equipment manufacturer and distributor Reference Laboratory provided the low profile, two-way, coaxial Radian MicroWedges as part of a complete sound and lighting package for the Arena Santa Giuliana.

Monitor engineer Claudio Venturelli admitted to having been initially skeptical about the MicroWedges, but was quickly won over: "Their main strength is probably the very vertical and narrow directivity pattern, which helps to keep the stage clean even when you have as many as 21 monitors playing really loud," said Venturelli.

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UAE / Saudi Arabia - Multisell announced today that it has appointed AEC as its distributor to boost sales in the Saudi Arabian market. AEC will be responsible for distributing the Multisell Technology range of MIM (Motion Interactive Media) solutions, including MultiFx, iPoint and Lumin projection screens to system integrators and up-market end-user clients.

"We have studied the Saudi market for more than a year, proactively looking for a reliable partner able to offer our line of products and provide unmatched client support and servicing," Said David Holm-Glad, managing director MultiSell Technology ME.

AEC's systems solution division will be the system integrator and the link between the two companies, with more than 100 managers, engineers and technicians amongst them. Focus on vertical markets such as retail, events, advertising and security will be key success

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USA - Recognised worldwide as the most comprehensive training course of its kind, the Tomcat Hoist and Rigging Workshop is a unique learning opportunity for those new to the entertainment industry, as well as veterans of the business. And until August of this year, you had to come to Midland, Texas to take part in this course.

However, after years of enquiries from various companies and groups around the US, Tomcat USA has reported that the first ever Hoist and Rigging Workshop took place August 1-4, 2006 at the historic National Theatre.

Working with I.A.T.S.E. Local 22 in Washington D.C., Tomcat provided comprehensive training for over 50 union members. Many were from the Baltimore/D.C. area - and some participants traveled in from Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York, New Jersey and Delaware to be a part of the training.

Don Dimitroff of Columbus McKinnon coached participan

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USA - Ben Harper's music is a unique combination of rock, soul, and blues with roots in reggae. His latest album, Both Sides Of The Gun, is no exception. The singer-songwriter and his band, the Innocent Criminals, will be promoting his eighteen-track album in a twenty-two date U.S. tour.

Ben Harper and management team including tour manager, Scott Cadwallader, production manager, Kenny Nicholson, and lighting designer, Keith Wissmar chose Bandit Lites to supply lighting for the tour.

"Ben [Harper] expressed a very keen desire to add video as a new element to his show- simple, big images. This obviously affected the lighting design from the European tour, which had no video. Keith [Wissmar] took this onboard and came up with a very smooth blending of the lighting and video elements," explained Dizzy Gosnell, of Bandit's San Francisco office.

Bandit's own Shaw

  1. Danley powers New York's The Manor Club
  2. The Glade Festival 2006
  3. Bandit and System Of A Down's Ozzfest tour
  4. Ramazzotti tours with DiGiCo D5s
  5. Northern Light AV installation
  6. Navigator opens Wireless web
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