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Belgium - Barco reports that its OLite 612 LED display was selected to support rock band Queen + Paul Rodgers on their 2008 European tour, The Cosmos Rocks,which kicked off in Kharkov, Ukraine on 12 September. A grand total of 2,500 Olite 612 LED modules are used to create a massive backdrop screen on stage.

The stage set for the tour was created by Stufish, whose team has created stage designs for Pink Floyd, U2, The Rolling Stones and many others. The giant backdrop screen, which forms the key visual element to the show, measures 17m wide and 5m high and contains 2,500 Olite 612 LED modules.

"Barco's Olite 612 fitted our design perfectly", says Mark Fisher, managing director at Stufish. "We wanted to present the audience with a spectacular video and light experience befitting a band of this statue. Olite's modularity once again enabled us to create some

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Belgium - The Belgian branch of Procon Event Engineering has ordered 40 Electro-Voice ZX1 high-tech loudspeakers from Electro-Voice partner E-audio Benelux.

"In the end, the choice was totally logical," says Procon's chief buyer, Fabrizio Valesia. "With the ZX1 we obtain not only a system tried-and-tested in countless applications but also the best price-to-performance ratio. The performance of this extremely compact, lightweight loudspeaker is simply sensational."

(Jim Evans)

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USA - The recent task at hand for Paul Wittman, monitor supervisor of ATK Audiotek of Valencia, CA, was to provide reliable communication and monitoring between the music director and the band who performed at this year's Democratic National Convention. The solution was the implementation of an Aviom Pro16 system.

"Audiotek migrated over to Aviom for the many high-profile events we work on because the fundamental design flexibility offered by Aviom allows us to accomplish even the most difficult monitoring and communication situations," says Andres Arango, staff engineer at Audiotek. "We now have a system that is straightforward to set up, gives the musicians individual control over their monitor mixes and is easily scalable to handle any production."

The signal flow for this event consisted of two elements: communication and monitor mixing. All band member

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Sweden - Wireless Solution Sweden's W-DMX features on Céline Dion's Taking Chances world tour which visits five continents, 24 countries and 84 cities, with a total of 120 performances.

The show is directed by Jamie King, who lists Madonna's Confessions Tour, Christina Aguilera's Back to Basics Tour, as well as tours for Kanye West and the Spice Girls among his credits. Lighting Designer is Yves 'Lapin' Aucoin.

The tour setup is a 360-degree production, designed 'in the round' style, and includes t20 LED screens, including one that orbits the stage, plus conveyor belts and elevators. The touring system is provided by Montreal, Canada-based Solotech, which is also the provider for various Cirque du Soleil productions.

With such limits in place regarding 360-degree viewing angles and elaborate movement, W-DMX was chosen as for sending wireless DMX s

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Germany - Westfalen Sound recently celebrated 30 years of success and partnership at its Emstetten base. A division of the POOL group, Westfalen is a provider of production services to countless touring, government, commercial and industrial theatre clients using Meyer Sound equipment exclusively. The company's anniversary event, named POOL is celebrating 30 years of Westfalen Sound, encompassed four days of training, seminars, product demonstrations, and a retrospective equipment display gallery.

The occasion was crowned by a large party on Saturday 13 September attended by more than 400 guests from all over the world. They enjoyed an extended musical evening featuring many performers who have worked with Westfalen Sound from the beginning, including both founding and current members of Udo Lindenberg's Panikorchester. A substantial multi-channel surround sound system co

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Italy - Rental company Agorà has taken delivery of four DiGiCo SD7 digital mixing consoles, the biggest single delivery to date.

Based in L'Aquila in central Italy, Agorà's high profile client list, which encompasses the majority of the country's top tours, means that its inventory of consoles needed to be augmented. Enter the SD7s, the purchase of another two of which are planned for 2009.

DiGiCo's managing director, James Gordon, visited Agorà's premises to head up a training programme. "Agorà has a long association with DiGiCo," says Stefano Cantadori, president of Audio Link. "It was one of the first companies to invest in the D5 and has an impressive stock of both digital and analogue desks. Agorà already had the edge in the Italian market and the purchase of the SD7s has reinforced that."

(Jim Evans)

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USA - Janet Jackson's Rock Witchu tour features a spectacular moving lighting rig created by lighting designer Vince Foster. A total of 150 PixelLine 1044s adjourn the lighting rig - half are used to construct a bridge that comes in and out, whilst the other half are rigged on moving trusses. The moving bridge creates another dimension for Jackson's stage presence and provides a dramatic platform for both singing and dancing.

Foster explains: "I've been a great fan of PixelLines since I started using them back in 2003 on a Massive Attack tour. They are consistently a very reliable and robust fixture - and I don't think I have designed a show without them since then."

He continues: "Janet Jackson contacted me after seeing one of my Kylie shows on DVD. I worked with her creative director who had a story and a script for the show - and after several meetings

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Germany - The Robe The Future is Digital international road show hit Germany last week, staged at Sky Europe's Mainz-based TV Studio, in the same neighbourhood as ZDF Television's massive HQ and complex.

Robe presented a two-day opportunity for guests to enjoy hands-on product demos and comparisons in a relaxing, convivial atmosphere and a real working environment.

The event was attended by visual designers, operators, programmers, technicians and a wide assortment of interested industry professionals from across Germany and Austria.

The Future is Digital gave visitors an opportunity to experience the new technology behind this concept. Digital moving lights and the new Robe DigitalSpot 3000 DT and the DigitalSpot 7000 DT moving light projectors were creatively positioned around the studio's large, curved cyclorama, shooting onto the screen and around the room.

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Germany - The Carl Orff Hall at Munich's Culture Centre, Gasteig, has recently added a new self-powered Meyer Sound M1D system, supplied and installed by Berlin-based Werner Audio.

The Gasteig complex consists of four other multi-purpose venues used for concerts, plays, lectures and movie screenings as well as the Munich Philharmonic Hall featuring a Meyer Sound system.

The new Meyer Sound system in the 600-seat Carl Orff Hall consists of two arrays each comprising nine M1D line array loudspeakers; one UPA-1P loudspeaker serves as a centre in-fill and two UPJ-1P VariO loudspeakers as an effects and in-fill system. Stage-lip and front-fill coverage is provided by six MM-4 miniature wide-range loudspeakers, while a pair of 700-HP subwoofers provide the low frequency energy for the whole system.

Overall monitoring is handled by Meyer Sound RMS remote monitoring system and a Gal

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Australia - Italian tenor Andreas Bocelli has completed an arena tour of New Zealand and Australia with an L-Acoustics Kudo line source array system provided by Norwest Productions. The tour included a show at the Sydney Acer Arena, the largest in the southern hemisphere, where Bocelli broke his previous world box office arena record, putting $AU3.273 million through the registers.

The concerts featured a 76-piece orchestra and a 60-piece choir together with baritone Gianfranco Montresor, soprano Paola Sanguinetti and guest star Tina Arena accompanying Bocelli.

"As each orchestra member is playing towards the conductor, the orchestra itself can be considered a point source," says sound designer Andrea Taglia, whose priority for the main system was to preserve the orchestra's sound image, retaining a sharp correlation between the visual of the musicians playing live a

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UK - Adlib is supplying lighting and audio equipment and crew for the current Dragonforce UK tour which features a lightshow designed by Stuart Gray, and sound mixed by Bruce Reiter.

Central to the sound reinforcement is a Nexo Alpha system, with the standard configuration being 18 M3 mid high boxes, 12 B1 bass cabinets and 10 S2 subs. Playing a wide variety of venues, they're flying where possible and ground stacking the rest of the time. For general infills, they are utilising 4 ADLIB AA122s.

Nexo's NX242 processors are used across all the Nexo elements, feeding Camco Tecton amplifiers driving the mid highs, Crown VZ5002s powering the bass and subs and Crown XTi's for the in-fills.

The system is time aligned each day by Adlib's systems engineer Richy Nicholson using EAW's SMAART analysis software. The FOH desk is a DigiDesign Venue.

Monitors are mixed by Adlib's Dave Dav

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Oman - The Grand Hyatt Muscat is home to several of Oman's hottest nightspots and entertainment venues including Club Safari, Copacabana and the sumptuous Afrah Ballroom. Audio quality throughout has recently been enhanced and refined with an upgrade to Lab.gruppen's range of C Series multi-channel power amplifiers, supplied and installed by Lab.gruppen's exclusive distributor in Oman, Bright Lights.

Club Safari is a three-level venue that offers an eclectic mix of high-tech entertainment and African design, including a live stage on the middle level. A powerful 4-channel Lab.gruppen C 68:4 runs the main stage PA comprising two 2 x 18" subs and two 12" mid-high cabinets from Ohm, while the stage monitor system is handled by an eight-channel C 20:8X powering six 12" Ohm wedges. The remaining two channels are powering the in-fill surround speakers.

Copacabana was

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UK - Following a busy summer, temporary power specialist Power Logistics has moved its operations to new, expanded premises in Wiltshire in good time to serve the winter events market.

The new base is in the Chippenham area just minutes from the M4. The move was planned last year, when it became apparent that Power Logistics was rapidly outgrowing its previous operational base, as it experienced growth in the live music, public events and sporting sectors.

The new premises have two warehouses for storage and handling, allowing the company more efficient turnaround of equipment and quicker access to the motorway network.

"The move to new purpose-built offices and storage facilities puts us in an ideal position to offer the best value service to the winter market," says Mike Whitehouse, Power Logistics' business development manager. "The premises give us a numbe

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UK - Prism Sound is taking to the road in November with a series of seminars that aim to dispel many of the popular myths surrounding the recording process.

In conjunction with Apple and monitor specialist PMC, the Prism Sound From Mic To Monitor road show will visit universities and colleges in six key cities over a two week period.

Each seminar will feature short presentations from the three companies involved and a talk by a guest recording professional who will also be available to answer questions from the audience on recording techniques.During its second week the road show will visit LIPA in Liverpool, Salfor

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UK - At the 2008 PLASA Show, the White Light family welcomed two new members - truss manufacturer Tomcat, and JB Lighting, manufacturer of LED moving lights.

For Tomcat, White Light will be the exclusive UK distributor for the Tomcat One range of truss products. The One range includes both ladder, rectangular box, triangular and stacking truss designs with either 48mm or 50mm diameter tubes.

JB Lighting is an innovative new manufacturer of LED and more traditional automated lighting fixtures, including the VaryLED A7 Zoom adjustable-beam moving LED washlight. The fixture won a Silver PLASA Award for Innovation this year.

The VaryLED A7 will be available from mid-November, with it and the rest of the JB Lighting range available in the UK exclusively from White Light.

(Jim Evans)

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USA - BML-Blackbird Theatrical Services recently installed the audio and lighting system at the new Espace entertainment space in Manhattan. Espace is a modern events venue that holds up to 500 people for seated dinners and 1,000 people for standing receptions. The 10,000sq.ft space hosts a variety of events including fashion shows, corporate functions and fundraisers.

While high-quality audio was an absolute requirement for the system, the owners of Espace did not want the audio equipment to interfere with the visually stunning appearance of the event room. "The owners of Espace wanted sound coverage everywhere possible in the room, but they didn't want to see it," said Don Quinton, audio engineer, BML-Blackbird. "The loudspeaker system had to be blended into the ceiling."

BML opted for JBL Control 300 ceiling speakers for the lobby area and selected AC221

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USA - Milos America and Acuity AV will stage an open house event on 31 October to celebrate the launch of two Milos roofs and a staging system which are now available for rent in the eastern United States.

Manufactured by Milos Structural Systems, the MR1 and MR2 roofs and a complete xStage S3 platform system will be featured at the event which is hosted by Acuity AV at their facility in Manassas, VA.

(Jim Evans)

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Australia - Following the 2000 Olympics, Sydney now boasts three major international standard stadiums for major sporting events; Sydney Olympic Park (now the ANZ Stadium), Sydney Football Stadium and Sydney Cricket Ground.

However, the city's facilities cater equally well for local and national needs with several 'boutique' sporting venues to host local events such as home games for the National Rugby League (NRL) competition.

One such facility is Toyota Stadium in the southern beachside suburbs of Sydney. Home of the Cronulla Sharks, Toyota Stadium commenced a $9 million plus upgrade in 2007, including the addition of a southern stand and renovations to the existing east and west stands. The ground has the capacity for over 22,000 fans.

Situated on the southern shores of Port Hacking, the facility is exposed to north easterly winds off the Pacific Ocean and, according to G

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Canada - CAST Software has introduced its joint innovators for BlackBox, which made its world debut at PLASA08 in London.

CAST's BlackBox is built with special hardware and proprietary software to be an integrated, bi-directional high speed communication solution which enables all control devices connected to it to send or receive instructions from each other. Live, realtime input is received in all forms by the BlackBox which acts as the brains - running on an ultra high-speed hybrid version of WYSIWYG.

CAST is working with key industry leaders - each a respected innovator in its own field -- to ensure BlackBox meets its technical objectives. In exchange, each will get a 12-month exclusive leadtime to enhance their own products to capitalize on the power and speed of BlackBox. Representatives of these companies were on hand during PLASA for the Beta launch phase to announce t

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Spain - The Canary Islands' Heineken Jazz Festival is the most important jazz event on the Islands' calendar. Held each year between June and July, it is staged at different venues around the islands, from open-air events and concert halls to intimate salons. The 2008 festival included performances by The Crusaders, Madeleine Peyroux, Spyro Gyra and many more.

This year sound engineer Hilario Benìtez introduced a new PA system to the event at two of the venues on Gran Canaria. "I've tried the Q-Series loudspeakers from d&b audiotechnik several times on the mainland in recent years," he said, "and I've always believed it would prove an ideal system for this event. Small, unobtrusive, easy to use and great detailed sound; just what you need for the intensity of the musicians who play here and the highly critical audiences who come to hear them."

Benìtez pla

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China - Situated in Ningbo, one of China's oldest cities and a key trading port for at least 2000 years, the eighth in the rapidly expanding chain of Bar No.88 venues has installed Turbosound NuQ, TXD and TCS series loudspeakers.

The No.88 chain is inspired by American-style venues, with music by in-house DJs and live performances by in-house singers. Installed by Chengdu Ruisheng Audio Equipment Co. with help from Mac Lo, technical director of Turbosound's Chinese distributor Phoenix Audio, the system at the Ningbo bar comprises 21 Turbosound NuQ-15 full-range loudspeakers and 22 TXD-218 subs, with 12 TCS-101C for in-fill beneath the club's balcony.

"The speakers are strategically installed to achieve a very even and consistent coverage, making sure all clients in the bar get the same high quality sound," says Shirley Zhuang of Phoenix Audio.

"As the ceiling

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UK - Large format projection specialists E/T/C London supplied seven 6kW PIGI projectors with double rotating scrollers to produce a 120m wide backdrop on The Old College building at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, for Music On Fire 2008.

It is the third time that E/T/C London has been involved in the biannual three-day mixed-media extravaganza and Firework Prom which attracted audiences of up to 10,000 per night with proceeds going to the Army Benevolent Fund.

The PIGI scrollers contained 19m of film and produced over 100 looks on the building, with all artwork created by media designer Paul Chatfield.

Chatfield took approximately a month to research and compile the finished artwork, working closely with show producer, Major Sir Michael Parker who also storyboarded the production.

The seven projectors were positioned 46m from the building, covered by S

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UK - An Avolites Pearl Tiger lighting console has been installed at the Island Theatre in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. The theatre is a busy receiving house, staging medium scale professional and amateur shows, concerts and events. The main hall is a flexible space offering a 402 capacity when in its seated configuration and 680 standing. There is also a studio theatre space.

The Tiger was supplied by Belfast-based Production Services Ireland (PSI). The theatre has been hiring additional kit off PSI for some time to supplement their larger shows and annual summer festival, including a Pearl console.

The Island had also recently invested in eight Robe ColorMix 240 ATs colour-changing fixtures, primarily for the Studio theatre, and these needed a control desk, so everything converged to make sense for them to buy a Tiger. The console gives them more than enough power and flexibili

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USA - Bandit Lites recently wrapped up the first leg of O.A.R.'s latest tour. The American rock band played shows across the United States supporting their most recent album, All Sides.

Lighting designer William Anglin said the design was fairly simple, with three straight trusses and a small floor package. "I recently did a tour with A.J. Penn and he really opened my eyes to the fact that a utilitarian design can be more than you need when you try. I have always thought that way. It makes no sense to spell your name out in truss. And I've been on some big productions where trucks 15, 16 and 17 don't really add as much to the show as they cost."

Anglin primarily chose to use Vari*Lite 3000 Spots, Martin Atomic 3000 Strobes and High End Systems Studio Beams, which he said provide a lot of punch for such a small fixture. On the floor, he added Cyberlight Turbos

  1. Robe & Anolis hit the Spot
  2. Lee Evans larges it with Martin Longbow
  3. Total Structures nominated for ESTA award
  4. AV Awards go to projectiondesign & Barco
  5. Rock solid W-DMX at Serbia's Exit
  6. ETC extends energy-saving practices
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