Business

Details
UK - Cheltenham and Peterborough-based Event and Management Services Ltd has been appointed to oversee technical operations and production delivery for the Scarborough Open Air Theatre season 2011.

The newly redeveloped theatre, which can accommodate up to 8,000 in its largest format, was opened by The Queen in May 2010 and held its first season between June and August 2010 with capacity audiences to see shows such as a Gala Evening with Jose Carreras, Dame Kiri te Kanawa and '80s rewind.

For 2011, the arena seating has been extended from 6,500 to 8,000 using temporary decking to bridge the lake that sits in front of the stage and the season opens on 5th June with Sir Elton John in concert.

Pete Allison, MD of Event & Management Services said: "This is a great piece of work for us, we're well used to consulting on and managing the production and site issues around large

Details
South Africa - Gearhouse In2Structures launched its new Combi Dome venue structure at a special event staged at the Country Club Johannesburg.

The two-day launch event received a massive response, with over 600 people visiting the new structure - a six-bay version of the 20m wide Combi Dome. The theme of the event was Your Vision Your View, emphasizing the real portability of the Combi Dome and its ability to be set up anywhere that suitable ground conditions apply. Gearhouse South Africa provided all technical elements to enhance the setup.

Designed as a 'compact' venue, Combi Dome still has a serious load capacity of 1500 Kgs per arch - which will facilitate a good amount of production equipment, and the structure is certified to withstand wind speeds of up to 120 kmh.

(Jim Evans)

Details
Italy - Among the long-running entertainment programmes that state owned Italian public service broadcaster RAI hosts, Domenica In (Sunday In) is by far the oldest: 35 years of non-stop editions since 1976, when the novelty of a six-hour continuous live entertainment show was introduced to Italian television.

Clay Paky was also founded in 1976 and has provided the vast majority of the lighting effects this year too. The rig includes about 120 intelligent lights consisting of Alpha Spot HPE 1200s, Alpha Spot HPE 700s, Alpha Spot HPE 300s and CP Color MHs, as well as numerous Clay Paky CP Spots as general accent lighting. All the lighting equipment is supplied by PR Electronics.

Director of photography Fausto Carboni comments, "The set lighting was designed to adapt to three different programmes: Domenica In, L'Arena' (the arena), and A casa di Paola

Details
UK - Wakefield Wildcats' flying start in 2011's rugby league season has seen them awarding a new stadium security contract to Showsec. The event crowd management specialists have been employed for their professionalism and to assist in the club in their aim to gain a Super League license for the 2012 - 2015 season.

Showsec's first season has seen 60 SIA Licensed security professionals and stewards successfully ensure the safety of visitors and sports stars across five games in Yorkshire. Led by Showsec area manager Julian Kumah the team covers all aspects of security, from control room and car park operators to stewards on the stands and entrance gates.

"We're passionate about offering progressive security solutions that are tailored to the range of events and venues that we work with," says Kumah. " We are seeing an increase in contracts from sporting organisat

Details
Australia - Tour de Cure, a cycling foundation committed to finding a cure for cancer, recently held their fourth annual A Day of Inspiration...Secrets of Achievement event at Sydney's Doltone House.

The event features thought provoking stories from leading speakers of all areas of life - sports, business, not-for-profit organisations and the community - anyone with an inspiring story to tell.

Microhire supplied all the audio visual requirements for this prestigious event which also saw them trying out their new Clear-Com Tempest wireless intercom system.

"It's a flexible yet reliable system, ideal for a busy company like ours," said Thomas Armati, general manager at Microhire. "The system also seamlessly integrates with our existing wired intercom systems. We've also discovered that our Clear-Com Tempest wireless talkback system has an operating freque

Details
Germany - For the 16th year running, the Irish denizens of Munich along with friends of the Emerald Isle celebrated St Patrick's Day (17 March) with a parade through the heart of the Bavarian capital. The turn-out was substantial, with the 20,000 plus revellers watching the show, on top of the 1,200 people actually taking part, making this probably the largest St Patrick's Day parade on the European mainland.

For after the parade, the organisers had prepared a stage in Munich's Odeonsplatz as well as a varied programme of cultural entertainment the highlight of which was a performance by the three-time Eurovision Song Contest winner Johnny Logan.

The sound production for the event was the responsibility of M7 Veranstaltungstechnik, a company based in Rott am Inn. "We were recommended to the organisers by several sources as being reliable partners with first-class equipmen

Details
China / Vietnam - In Guangzhou, D.A.S. Aero Series 2 and Compact loudspeakers reinforce the city's Performance Theatre. Here, a new sound system consisting of 16 D.A.S. Audio Aero 12A powered, two-way, mid-high line array modules-flown eight elements per side-were placed into service in late 2010.

Compact 218 Sub subwoofers - ground stacked in a left-right configuration - provide low frequency support while Compact 2 (a powered, 3-way, mid-high loudspeaker system) enclosures are deployed for use as front-fills. Six SML-15A powered, 2-way stage monitors/full-range units are used as surround-fills to give the audience a sense of being in a 3-D sound sphere.

This combination of equipment was selected based on the theatre's desire to have a 'punchy' system capable of conveying sound effects and other audio elements in a realistic manner to the audience. Equally important was a hig

Details
UAE - Dubai's DUCTAC theatre was the destination for many of the key regional AV integrators and audio consultants on Easter Sunday, to attend the Middle East Pro Audio Seminar, organised by Tannoy Middle East with support from Lab.gruppen, Lake and Biamp Systems. The successful event attracted over 40 attendees and was v well received.

The event was aimed at audio professionals throughout the region with an active involvement in the installed sound market, designed to give them an opportunity to discover the latest product innovations from the TC Group's pro-audio brands; namely Tannoy, Lab.gruppen and Lake, as well as some insight into the market-leading DSP install solutions from Biamp Systems.

The well-equipped community arts theatre proved to be an appropriate venue for demonstrating Tannoy's VQ Series point-source PA system and the company's QFlex digitally steerable col

Details
UK - Blackstar Amplification has been honoured in the 2011 Queen's Awards For Enterprise in the International Trade category. Blackstar has only been in existence for four years - an unusually short period of time in which to earn the award.

Paul Hayhoe, Blackstar UK's sales and marketing director, comments, "In 2007, four friends - all passionate musicians - launched Blackstar Amplification. Having worked together for years at the highest levels of the amp designing industry, their dream was to create new and innovative guitar amplifiers and pedals that would be the ultimate tools for self-expression."

Hayhoe continues, "Since then, we have gone from a shed at the bottom of the garden to a 4500sq.ft facility and a team of 25 amazingly talented and dedicated people. Blackstar products are now distributed in more than 40 countries around the world, but one thing

Details
USA - The Entertainment Technician Certification Programme (ETCP) Council is has announced an addition to the Employer and Labor Provider Recognition Programes: ETCP Recognised Contractor. This programme has been initiated to recognise organisations who utilise ETCP Recognized Employers and/or ETCP Certified Technicians on projects and job sites. This designation would be appropriate for designers, integrators, producers, and production companies. It would also be applicable for venues such as performing arts centres, arenas, museums, theme parks, and houses of worship.

Many organisations find ETCP Recognition and the ETCP logo to be effective marketing tools. ETCP Recognised Contractors may utilise the special ETCP Recognized logo which identifies them as a 'Contractor of ETCP Certified Technicians'. These logos may be used on company letterhead, on a website, and in advertisin

Details
Italy - RCF has invested in a new facility, called the RCF Audio Academy - a complex of several demo facilities, classrooms and conference areas. At the Audio Academy there is also a 'Room of Sound' - a large area where various different audio applications can be set up, from a standard commercial system to complex DSP-controlled solutions. The Audio Academy is an ideal place for system integrators, FOH sound engineers, installers, rental and "tomorrow's engineers" to participate in courses and have the opportunity to learn about new technologies or get updated with the latest developments and trends. The RCF Audio Academy is based in Reggio Emilia, Italy very close to RCF's international headquarters.

"Our goal with the RCF Audio Academy is to share our knowledge and skills with the industry," says Fausto Incerti, general manager of RCF.

Details
UK - Packed aisles and major new product launches firmly established PLASA Focus as an unmissable industry event for the north of England. Some 1956 visitors, representing a 9% increase in the total number of attendees in 2010, headed to the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds last week to see 130 brands launch dozens of new products to the UK market. A total of 2457 attendees, including exhibitors, enjoyed Focus's trademark sunshine, free lunch and informal, friendly atmosphere.

Among a lengthy list of new products receiving their UK launch were the Chroma-Q Studio Force and Jands Vista V2, both launched by AC Entertainment Technologies; a new generation of moving heads from Robe; Avolites' Sapphire Touch and a preview of its Titan V5 software; the Wave 28 all-in-one modular PA from Adam Hall; Christie's new Nitro Solutions range of motorised moving yokes; the new Showtec luminaire

Details
Germany - Lighting designer Gunther Hecker used 22 Robe LEDWash 600s as his key fixtures for the just finished Die Söhne Mannheims European tour, an opportunity seized by the band to preview material for their forthcoming new album to be released in the autumn.

Söhne Mannheims is a popular German music band with massive energy and dynamics, featuring up to 17 members (with 13 on this tour) encompassing several musical genres including rap, R 'n' B, soul, hip hop and rock all fused into a distinctive style, achieving considerable commercial and critical acclaim.

Hecker's lighting design studio is based in Werne. He started his lighting career in the theatre 20 years ago, and now works on a host of live events, TV shows and bands - also including LD'ing the Die Fantastischen Vier and Tokio Hotel. He has worked with Söhne Mannheims since 1999

Hecker had been wanting to try o

Details
Australia - Alan Jackson is currently completing his first headline tour of Australia, with many of his arena shows selling out rapidly.

Lighting designer John Lucksinger used Chameleon Touring Systems for lighting supply including 16 Vari*Lite VLX LED wash lights hung in the air randomly over the stage.

Lucksinger admits that in the US he uses a different type of LED fixture, however when Chameleon offered him the Vari*Lite VLX's he was excited to try them.

"I found them to be very clean, and their colours are just beautiful plus they're very quick and have a really nice zoom. I'm not a real gear person and see lights as lights. I remember seeing a demo of the VLX and thinking 'oh great another wash fixture'. But they are honestly one of the best fixtures I've ever used, they are amazing. I'll certainly be specifying them in the future."

(Jim Evans)

Details
UK - Mercury AV has supplied an Allen & Heath iLive-T digital mixing system to manage FOH and monitor sound at Cambridge Community Church.

Rich Harris from Cambridge Community Church considered two other competitive products but following a demo at Mercury AV, decided to purchase iLive.

The iLive system comprises an iDR-48 MixRack and iLive-T112 Control Surface for monitors together with an iDR-16 Mixrack and a second iLive-T112 Surface at FOH. The two MixRacks are connected via MADI, which provides a 64-channel bi-directional audio link between monitors and FOH. An iDR-32 MixRack has also been supplied for use with a laptop for smaller external events.

Ian McDonald, Director of Mercury AV Ltd comments, "iLive is an incredibly flexible system. Digital signal distribution is one of the key benefits of using digital mixers and with Allen & Heath's iLive-T Series, this ben

Details
France - British band, Archive, whose musical genres span everything from trip hop to progressive rock, have enjoyed massive success in continental Europe for the best part of nearly two decades. The band recently embarked on a completely sold-out mini European tour accompanied, for the most part, by a philharmonic orchestra.

FoH engineer Spike Jones used an Innovason Eclipse in tandem with another console, as well as a full complement of Neumann digital microphones for the orchestra, all controlled via Eclipse. The tour included a date at the art deco Parisien venue, Le Grand Rex - the first with the digital microphones; a special 'electric' show in Karlsruhe which was just the band, and the final show at the concert hall at the university of Berlin with the orchestra and digital mics which was recorded live using Elipse's integrated digital recorder, M.A.R.S.

"I've real

Details
Germany - Two grandMA2 light consoles and nine MA VPU (Video Processing Unit) plus are being used to deliver the video and graphics package for the current series of German Pop Idol, which is being recorded in Studios 30/31 at the Coloneum MMC Studios in Cologne, produced by Grundy Light Entertainment.

The popular talent show series is now in its eighth series and is the biggest studio based show in Germany, complete with a live broadcast every Saturday on RTL, also enjoyed by an audience of 1,300 in the studio.

The set and video concept is designed by Florian Wieder (Wieder Design) and based on a series of interrelated 3D spheres and screen surfaces. Video is a vital part of the look and dynamics of the show, with custom content for each competitor and their different songs designed by Falk Rosenthal from Gravity Hamburg. Together with the lighting, designed by Manuel

Details
Algeria - PR Lighting's Algerian distributor, Neosun, has supplied production specialists, HANS Company, with quantities of XL Beam 300's to enable the production company to showcase a number of leading car brands at the recent Salon International de l'Automobile d'Alger (14th Algerian Motor Show).

Neosun has been working with PR Lighting since 2009, initially placing small orders before developing a much larger slice of the market with the Chinese manufacturer's components. One of their major customers has been HANS Company, confirms Neosun sales executive, Salim Derradji,

"XL Beam 300 is new type of moving head, with special features not found with competitors' brands - so our client was pleased to be able to provide a different solution," said Mr. Derradji.

At the Motor Show, the fixtures were mostly suspended from square or triangular truss sections. For SOVAC,

Details
UK - Britain's Got Talent's dance group Flawless are coming to the end of their largest ever tour - 60 dates covering major cities of the UK.

With more dates, less rest, tighter install deadlines and even more demanding choreography the Flawless team requested Le Mark's Manero Portable SubFloor to be used at every venue possible.

Artistic director Marlon Wallen comments, "We have used the Manero floor throughout our 60 date UK tour and we really feel that it has made a significant difference to the quality of our performance. The give in the floor has protected our bodies during flips and multiple somersaults and we have noticed its superior quality when compared to other professional dance floors we have performed on in the past."

(Jim Evans)

Details
USA - Peavey Electronics Corporation, one of the world's largest manufacturers of musical instruments and professional sound equipment, has initiated multiple actions against Behringer for various intellectual property issues, including patent infringement, false marking, trademark infringement and unfair competition.

The Behringer-related entities currently involved in these suits include Music Group Services LU SARL - a corporation currently located on Mauritius; Music Group Services US, Inc - a Washington state corporation; Behringer International GmbH - a German corporation; Behringer Holdings (PTE) Ltd - a Singapore company; Red Chip Company Ltd - a British Virgin Islands corporation; Behringer USA Inc - a Washington state corporation, and Behringer Spezielle Studiotechnik GmbH - a German corporation.

Peavey filed a lawsuit in 2009 against Behringer in US District Court i

Details
Denmark - The Royal Danish Ballet's recent performance of A Folk Talewhich ended a four week run at the Copenhagen Opera House on 8 April, is a classic Bournonville ballet that included several new interpretations and visual elements. Part of that new look included lighting effects from Martin Professional MAC III Profile luminaires under the command of lighting designer and programmer Mikki Kunttu.

"It was one of the main ideas of the design to have the brightest source of light originating from the centre of the stage so we created a cluster of MAC III's in the centre of the space," Kunttu stated. "I wanted a very silent moving light with a lot of brightness, wide beam and good gobo projection and the MAC III delivered all these."

Kunttu made the decision to use the 1500 watt fixtures after studying scale models of the sets. "With the set's wh

Details
USA - A tribute to the life and work of John Denver took place at the 1ST Bank Centre in Broomfield, Colorado. To mark his commitments to humanitarian, sustainability and conservation causes the event was held on Earth Day, 21 April.

Hosted by Olivia Newton-John, a close friend of Denver and his family, the evening featured performances from a large roster of artists including Lee Ann Womack, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, John Oates, Trace Bundy and the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra. The show opened with Denver's induction into the Colorado Music Hall Of Fame, the first artist to be so honoured, and also included performances from his first wife and his widow.

Sound production for the event was handled by Colorado-based Dowlen Sound who deployed a combination of Outline GTO, Butterfly and Mantas loudspeaker modules in the 6500-capacity venue. The main L&R system comprised 12 GT

Details
USA - The Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Southern California grows larger every spring. This year, the three-day event boasted over 75,000 attendees each day, and featured headlining acts such as Arcade Fire, Kanye West, and Kings of Leon.

Integral to this major production was wireless lighting control, realised with LumenRadio's CRMX Nova systems. On 11 generator-powered lighting towers as far away as 2,100ft from the control center, LumenRadio controlled four DMX universes of High End intellaspots, PRG Bad Boys, and Color Kinetics ColorBlazes.

Provided by Felix Lighting of La Mirada, CA, the LumenRadio units overcame daunting challenges, not only linking several universes of DMX to locations well over a quarter mile apart, but doing so while peacefully coexisting in an environment saturated by other wireless traffic, including life safety, performance, production, and

Details
Switzerland - From 26 November 2010 to 2 January 2011, Geneva illuminated its lakeside promenade thanks to the tenth edition of the Festival Arbres et Lumières.

One of the artists invited, Italian director and lighting designer Simona Braga proposed a mini eight-minute son et lumière with music and recitation. Le souffle du monde is a sequence of projections and lighting effects that develop the basic themes of the festival (nature and light). The projections have been achieved using high resolution photo gobos for the graphic designs created by the author, and Clay Paky metal gobos to produce some of the effects, such as the woods and fog which appear to come from the lake and disperse with the sunrise.

The lighting effects are projected onto four fan-shaped screens between 16 and 20m from the ground. The Alpha Profile 1200s have been hung on a tree in front of the s

  1. Momo opens in Beirut with QSC
  2. Martin Audio reinforces Joensuu centre
  3. Martin US road show underway
  4. The Doors originals play Mexico with RCF
  5. Midas PRO3 debuts on Broadway
  6. RST boosts Christie inventory
Page 1265 of 1813

Latest Issue. . .