USA - Main Light increased its rental inventory of Ayrton lighting fixtures with the purchase of a large complement of versatile new Zonda 9 FX fixtures. The company currently has offices in Delaware, Tennesse, and Las Vegas, with a fourth location coming February 2023 to Teterboro, NJ. Main Light has seen a steady demand for its Ayrton Perseo, Khamsin and Diablo fixtures, which were acquired during the past two years from ACT Entertainment, the exclusive distributor of Ayrton lighting in North America.
Main Light’s acquisition of Zonda 9 FX represents one of the first investments by a US company in the luminaire. Designed for a multitude of applications, Zonda 9 FX is the first in a new family of products for stage lighting equipped with a high-performance 40W LED source with RGB+W additive colour synthesis. Zonda’s LED/optical system combination can produce a powerful

USA - A combination of pandemic exigencies and shortages means tours often have to be ready to move at a moment’s notice. That was the case for the first week-plus of theatre dates in the Midwest to kick off The Manhattan Transfer's 50th Anniversary & Final World Tour. The Grammy award–winning vocal group was founded in 1969 and has explored a cappella, vocalese, swing, standards, Brazilian jazz, rhythm and blues, pop music, and more in that half-century span.
But as the foursome prepared for the initial dates their 50th Anniversary outing last August and September, circumstances compelled them to hit the road with the barest minimum of tech rehearsal. And when you’ll be traveling with a 24-piece big band - in this case the DIVA Jazz Orchestra who are backing The Manhattan Transfer - it’s quite a balancing act. That’s where the DiGiCo Quantum225 console came in

UAE - Slated as the largest indoor health and fitness club in Dubai, offering world-class facilities over 75,000sq.ft, the new Wellfit gym has been fitted out with a Martin Audio sound reinforcement solution.
Located in Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC), this latest mammoth facility, situated on level 2 of the Circle Mall, features 200 of the British manufacturer’s loudspeakers, spanning several different ranges.
It is the second such sports, health, and fitness centre in the UAE opened by operators Arada, following the successful community pilot in Sharjah last year.
The sound is broadcast through the main activity zones via Martin Audio’s popular CDD series. These coaxial differential dispersion loudspeakers were installed by local partners, Pro Lab, to a specification by Pulse Middle East, who were responsible for the design and build of the venue. They form p

Switzerland - The St. Jakob Park in Basel, locally referred to as ‘Joggeli, has a long history. The largest stadium in Switzerland is a new construction managed by architects Herzog & de Meuron. After several extensions, St. Jakob Park is one of the first multifunctional venues in Switzerland with apartments, a shopping centre, restaurants, department stores, and is also a UEFA Category 4 stadium.
During the most recent modernisation in 2020 and 2021, the owner, FC Basel 1893 renewed the entire sound system with RCF sound systems. The under-balcony PA system and the entire grandstand PA system have been upgraded with RCF loudspeakers. Power amplifiers and audio matrix systems have also been replaced. In particular, the client chose passive systems of the HL, HVL, and P series from the Italian manufacturer to renew and improve the sound experience.
Since the moder

Germany - Kramer has announced its distribution partnership in Germany with Exertis Pro AV, headquartered in Uhingen.
With this new partnership, Exertis Pro AV will be able to market Kramer's entire portfolio while delivering the most intuitive audio-visual experiences through its wide network of resellers, integrators, planners and architects in Germany. Customers will now have access to a dedicated team offering reliable support that drives the business forward.
Marc Issan, global VP sales at Kramer, said: "Partnering with a distributor as credible and professional as Exertis Pro AV makes me excited for the future of this collaboration. With each other’s help, customers in Germany will gain access to Kramer’s secure and reliable AV products while experiencing seamless support from Exertis Pro AV through innovative audio-visual experiences that power creativity,

USA - Elation expected a busy LDI 2022. Their booth was crowded from the minute the show opened on Friday at the Las Vegas Convention Centre and lighting pros continued to make their way to the booth to talk lighting and demo Elation, Obsidian and Magmatic products throughout the weekend. The Elation team was excited to be back at the show after a three-year hiatus.
“We had a fantastic show,” enthused Elation director of sales & marketing, Eric Loader. “We expected a lot of contact and interest from customers leading up to the show so the crowded booth didn’t surprise us in the least. It was great to see so many faces again, both our faithful partners and customers but also the many new faces and contacts we made. The attention on our new products was great and based on the quality leads generated it gives us a lot of opportunities to continue our growth.”

Germany - A 132sq.m LED wall from Alfalite has been selected as the centrepiece for Plazamedia Lazanedia's new hybrid studio near Munich to broadcast all the FIFA World Cup matches from Qatar. The TV set will use camera tracking and multi-camera systems from Mo-Sys, also the Alfalite LED wall supplier for this installation.
Plazamedia is a live entertainment and sporting events producer and established provider of intelligent digital content solutions in Germany. They have chosen an Alfalite Modularpix Pro VP XR 1.9 ORIM 33m-wide and 3.5m-high curved U-shaped LED wall for their new hybrid studio at the AGROB Medienpark to broadcast the 64 FIFA games from Qatar, including 23 live matches. Deutsche Telekom will air all 64 2022 FIFA World Cup matches live on MagentaTV.
Mo-Sys and the Spanish company Alfalite installed the ORIM LED wall in record time. ORIM (Optical Resin

Czech Republic - To provide the Stages Hotel Prague with a comprehensive and versatile networked audio system, AV integrators Nowatron Elektronik and AudioMaster CZ installed a wide range of Harman Professional audio solutions.
Situated near both the O2 Arena and O2 Universum, the Stages offers visitors to Prague a luxury experience showcasing the city’s music and arts scene. Along with its modern rooms, restaurants and meeting spaces, the Stages also features a fully linked audio-visual network between the hotel, the O2 Arena and O2 Universum. This ambitious system allows for independent or shared media broadcasting and streaming between the three venues in real time with minimal latency.
The Stages required a modern AV solution that balanced advanced features and bandwidth with ease-of-use and accessibility. To meet these requirements for the hotel’s audio comp

UK - Universal Pixels (UP) provided kit and crew for Robbie Williams’ 25 Years of Hits tour, which visited arenas across the UK and Ireland in autumn 2022.
The high-profile run, which opened with two nights at London’s O2 Arena, showcased the artist’s latest album, XXV, which features many of his greatest hits re-recorded and newly orchestrated courtesy of Dutch pop and jazz orchestra, the Metropole Orkest.
In order to match Williams’ entertaining live show, tour director Ade Bullock and production manager John Lafferty brought in UP to provide an eye-catching and dynamic video setup; renewing a relationship that has also been tried and tested in the past with show designer, Paul Normandale.
“UP always provide excellent service, which is why I’ve used them on numerous projects for many years now,” says Normandale. “We wanted to reflect Rob

Sweden - Located in the heart of Stockholm, Space is a digital culture centre created especially for the digital generation that combines the key ingredients of digital culture – gaming, music, content creation and digital knowhow - all under one roof. The centre features more than 400 gaming stations, an event arena to host traditional and hybrid events, and creative areas spread across the multi-floor, 8,000m2 building.
As technical partner to Pophouse Entertainment, in charge of the Space project, Creative Technology Systems Integrations (CT SI) supplied and installed a large quantity of AV technology throughout the centre, including LCD screens and media servers in the gaming section, high-end screens in the co-working area, and a massive AV installation in the event arena.
The awe-inspiring venue captures its visitors’ imaginations at the entrance, with a ceil

Spain BikeFest, the fundraising cycle event, will return to Spain for a second year from 27-29 January 2023, cycling up to 400km towards ISE in Barcelona. By doing so, the BikeFest team will raise money for industry charity Backup Tech and create lasting friendships across the live events and AV industries.
Organised by PLASA, #WeMakeEvents and AFIAL, the growing BikeFest team is seeking new members to join them for the upcoming ride, as well as sponsors who are interested in aligning with important industry values. Furthermore, those who wish to support the event from afar can donate or buy branded merchandise.
The three-day route will begin in Valencia and travel along the stunning Mediterranean coast via Peñiscola and Tarragona toward Barcelona. Once at ISE, the BikeFest team will be invited to a drinks reception and presented with their medals, where they can cele

Australia - The Street Theatre in Australia is Canberra's award-winning home of live storytelling and performance, and a major investor in new theatre, music, and artists from the ACT and region. The Street Theatre commissions, develops, produces, and presents work that challenges expectation and convention.
In the months leading to their purchase, they had experienced a bigger demand for LED product in their lighting rig. This demand was driven by the desire to be able to respond to key moments in a performance and being able to easily colour mix and adjust focus, allowing their operators to create lighting that could help drive a performance.
“We produced a three-month concert series early 2022, and for this series we hired in an LED lighting rig for the season,” explained James Tighe, technical manager. “After seeing what our lighting team were able to create


Swift Reaction - Tickets to see Taylor Swift live in concert sold so swiftly the general public never even had a chance to buy. Ticketmaster, the company selling seats to the singer's US tour, cancelled the public sale, citing "extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory". It has already sold over two million tickets in pre-sales for select groups.
The company has come under criticism after the demand crashed its website. "I got so close three or four times and the website broke. It was agonising," said Nancy Abulmagd, one of the fans who had won a lottery to join the pre-sale. She spent hours on Tuesday in a virtual queue, behind thousands of other people, trying to score seats for her 11-year-old daughter and friends, only to have the website crash repeatedly and eventually turn her away, empty-handed.
The firm

USA - Lighting designer Ian Haslauer chose a large complement of Claypaky Xtylos and Mini Xtylos HPE fixtures for the North American leg of The Lumineers’ Brightside World Tour 2022.
Christie Lites and representative Martin Kelley supplied the Xtylos fixtures, featuring Claypaky’s proprietary RGB laser source, for the arena tour supporting the American folk-rock band’s Brightside album. The tour played dates across the UK and Europe before moving to North America for the spring and summer, wrapping at Wrigley Field in Chicago in September.
Haslauer has worked with The Lumineers since early 2019. Production designers Sooner Routhier and Robert Long of SRae Productions came onboard in 2016 and have three tour cycles to their credit. Routhier suggested that Haslauer use the small form factor Mini Xtylos HPE in his rig following her success in deploying them

Australia - King’s Church has teamed up with Captivate AV to enhance its worship experience with KLANG’s immersive in-ear mixing system coupled with DiGiCo S-Series consoles. Boasting several key locations across Australia’s Gold Coast, King’s Church encompasses a growing community of connected worshippers that regularly assemble for a variety of services and events.
Endeavouring to offer its followers a technologically progressive experience, both in-person and online, King’s Church produces its own podcast and web-stream services, while delivering potent live worship sessions through song and the spoken word.
Recognising seamless audio production as a core component in delivering the impact it wants, the church’s team has enlisted industry expert, Captivate AV, to help optimise its AV capabilities. Chris Lang, Captivate AV’s managing director, spearhea

UK/USA - Houses of worship are often the most common application for micro line array systems like Martin Audio’s O-Line. And the reaction of users in that setting is positive. “We are extremely satisfied with the performance of O-Line,” said Zachary Ward, director of communications, First Pentecostal Church in North Little Rock, Arkansas. “With such an unusual room, including 42ft-high ceilings and several stained-glass windows reaching more than 28ft tall, O-Line provides even coverage and clarity while accomplishing our main goal, preserving the overall aesthetic of the room.”
However, once the system is put into use, the full capabilities of O-Line become clear. “It’s a very transparent PA - it’s not lumpy in the bottom end,” noted Mozaix director Paul Tucker, discussing St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Melbourne. “We had a consecration service featuri

Hosted by Oscar-winning composer Steven Price, the two-hour spectacle features highlights from the series shown on a giant 4K screen with live music being performed by an orchestra conducted by Robert Ames. Intelligent lighting by Infinity and Showtec enhance the entire experience.
While breath taking images on screen and live orchestral music already engage the audience, stunning lighting effects throughout the venue augment the visual experience to fully immerse them. Numerous lighting fixtures by Infinity and Showtec are used for this. These include 34 Infinity iW-1941 RDM washers, 14 Showtec Helix S5000 Q4 washers, 25 Infinity S401 Spots and eight Infinity S601 Profiles. Each fixture plays an important part in the spectacular light show that was designed by Art of Light’s Andre Beekman. Additional effects are provided by two Showtec Mistique CO2 hazers.
In addition to

USA - One of the 2000s most successful hard rock bands is Breaking Benjamin, whose guitar heavy sounds and powerful vocals delivered by Benjamin Burnley have endeared them to fans for two decades. The band teamed up recently with Alice in Chains, to co-headline a tour that also saw Bush on the bill as special guests.
The 30-city co-headlining tour kicked off on 10 August at The Pavilion at Star Lake in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania before wrapping up 8 October at the Xfinity Centre in Mansfield, Massachusetts. Ty Veneziano of Bandit Lites designed, programmed and operated lighting for the Breaking Benjamin performance and turned to Elation Professional’s compact Smarty Hybrid moving head to tailor the look and fill out the rig with beam looks.
Ty, who has been working with Breaking Benjamin since 2021 after five years working with Chevelle, says that Scott Holthaus (R

Europe - To provide My Chemical Romance with immersive and stylised lighting for their highly anticipated world tour, lighting production house Penlight designed a custom-built rig featuring Martin Professional solutions. After officially disbanding in 2013 and several postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MCR embarked on the tour in May 2022.
The band aimed to exceed fans’ lofty expectations with massive, immersive visuals that accentuated their music’s raw energy and adapted to their constantly changing setlists. To meet these requirements, Penlight worked closely with the band to design a detailed and versatile lighting rig featuring Martin MAC Ultra Performance, MAC Quantum Wash, MAC Aura XB and Atomic 3000 fixtures.
“For this tour, the band never does the same setlist twice,” said AJ Pen, founder, Penlight. “And by that I don't mean that they swa

Hungary - Művészetek Palotája (MÜPA) – Palace of the Arts – enjoys a commanding position on the shores of the Danube in Budapest and is a powerhouse for high quality arts productions. Its prestigious venues include the 1,700-capacity Bartok National Concert Hall and the festival theatre which accommodates 450 people.
The lighting department – comprising 12 people – has recently invested in more Robe moving lights, with 30 x Tarrantulas and 13 x Fortes joining the inventory and now in use, mostly in the Festival Theatre.
During the pandemic lockdowns, all MÜPA’s technical staff including the lighting department was kept busy staging streamed shows and they also ran drive-in performances in the car park outside.
MÜPA also seized the opportunity of ‘dark’ time during the lockdown to upgrade some of the technology – some of which had been in t

UK - Kings Place has revealed the second wave of events for Sound Unwrapped, a year-long series which will take a deep dive into innovative sound art, spatialised listening and immersive sonic events. Featuring artists from across a multiple of genres.
A partnership with d&b audiotechnik will see Kings Place install a d&b Soundscape in its flexible Hall Two space. d&b Soundscape is an alternative to the traditional left and right stereo system, using 19 loudspeakers in the round to open a plethora of creative possibilities for artists to diffuse their music. Audiences can trial the d&b Soundscape system in Moonbathing, a 45-minute immersive sound experience featuring new spatial mixes from Oliver Coates, Rival Consoles, Gruff Rhys and more [19, 20 January & 2 February].
Artist in Residence Hannah Peel will kick off her residency with a

South Africa - Chainmaster has announced that in future their global presence in the South African market will be strengthened with DWR Distribution as their trading partner.
Chainmaster’s Benjamin Göldner and Adam Beaumont recently visited South Africa and accompanied by DWR’s Robert Izzett, called on numerous local rental technical suppliers. “While Chainmaster is well established throughout the world, it’s the first time that the brand will be represented in South Africa and we look forward to a long-term relationship with DWR,” comments Benjamin Göldner, CEO at Chainmaster GmbH.
“We are part of Liftket Hoffmann, the parent company that took ownership of Chainmaster in 2018 and are proud to produce and assemble first-rate hoists and controllers to the entertainment industry, from basic units to controllers with frequency, inverters, positioning and loa

Germany - With a new conference format, Prolight + Sound (25 to 28 April 2023) is strengthening the audio section as a mainstay of the event. Together with the Bildungswerk des Verbandes deutscher Tonmeister (educational institution of the German Tonmeisters' Association, BiW-vdt), the ProAudio College is being created as a four-day advanced training programme for audio professionals as well as for interested industry talents. The lectures will focus on current trends in the sound reinforcement scene, practical tips in home studio productions and exclusive training modules from the SQQ7 curriculum.
After attending the seminars, participants will receive a written confirmation as proof of the knowledge they have gained. The lectures will be held partly in German and partly in English.
“Particularly against the background of the continuing major challenges in the audio

UK – Science Fiction Voyage to the Edge of Imagination is an interactive exhibition of unlimited possibilities at the London Science Museum, which opened this October and runs through May 2023.
Designed by Framestore, a Bafta and Oscar winning creative studio in collaboration with P&P Projects, a Dutch scenic design company, the ticketed exhibit draws on a variety of AR and VR tools including a multi-array projection dome featuring a real time Unreal Engine visualisation of extra-terrestrial beings, to immerse visitors in a universe where imagination knows no boundaries
Guided by” artificial intelligence of an alien origin,” visitors board a spaceship and explore an unknown planet at this remarkable attraction. Enhancing the transformative journey and deepening the experience of visitors as they leave the familiar behind and enter a new reality is a li

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