UK - Following the announcement of the launch of the CDC Eight flagship digital live production console at PLASA 2011, Cadac and CUK Audio announce they have signed an exclusive distribution agreement for the UK and Ireland.

Vincenzo Borrelli, sales development manager of Cadac, commented, "Cadac is embarking on an exciting phase of development, with a wider range of digital and analogue product lines. Maintaining our core values of sound quality and innovation, we will be introducing Cadac advantages at a range of price levels for a greater range of applications. Ensuring our distribution delivers this with the highest level of service and support is a key part of our strategy and, with their technical competence and synergetic brands, CUK Audio is an ideal partner."

Stuart Thomson, MD of CUK Audio added, "It's an exciting time for Cadac, following the introduc

UK - Stageco provided the main stage for both legs of the V Festival, at Hylands Park, Chelmsford, and Weston Park, Staffordshire last month.

The Belgian company provided four-tower festival roof system, offering a performance area of 25m by 20m for headliners including the Arctic Monkeys, Plan B, Kaiser Chiefs, Rihanna and Eminem. A Stageco crew of nine were deployed, constructing the 500m² festival stages in four days, including two video wings supporting giant screens either side.

Project director Dirk De Decker ensured detailed plans were exchanged with the festival production team from Maztec and the incoming bands production, and even following several late modifications, Stageco's on-site project managers accommodated changes to production requirements from rapper Eminem.

Antonio Duarte Da Cruz, project manager at Chelmsford, said: "The stages followed a similar

The Netherlands - Educational facility SAE Institute has recently installed a new 36-channel Audient ASP8024 inline desk in its Rotterdam school. SAE manager Andreas Oszkiel comments: "Students can now enjoy the sonic qualities of this large-format console as they enhance their skills on the Audient desk. It integrates perfectly with our Pro Tools HD rig for flexible recording and mixing.

"This upgrade ensures that we provide our students with up-to-date recording facilities, which not only reflect the industry standard in functionality and size with extremely versatile routing options, but also sound fantastic.

"The first project that will test the abilities of the Audient desk and the students will be the Fermi Paradox, a zero-budget sci-fi film shot and produced in Rotterdam," continues Oszkiel. "Our students will be contributing sound editin

UK - Hall Stage has been appointed authorised dealer of Zetex, Zetexplus and Z-Flex fabrics, and Newtex engineered curtain systems for European theatres and public venues.

Newtex Industries Inc (USA) is a manufacturer of fabrics and fabricated systems for thermal management and fire protection. All products are asbestos-free.

ZetexPlus 1210 is a proprietary asbestos-free fabric designed specifically for stage and theatre applications. A specialty weave of highly texturised premium grade E-glass yarn provides "exceptionally high mechanical strength in the vertical direction and five times the abrasion resistance of existing asbestos curtains". The specialised ZetexPlus blend of vermiculite raises continuous temperature resistance of the base fibreglass fabric to over 1100° C, the company says.

ZetexPlus 1210 is designed as a replacement fabric for existing safet

Australia - Currently playing at Sydney's Lyric Theatre, the musical Hairspray has been delighting audiences for several months with its bright, cheery sets and music. The show's audio was designed by Michael Waters for Jands Production Services who also supplied the audio equipment including 26 Shure UHF-R Micro Bodypack Transmitters (UR1M) and Shure UHF UR4D Dual Receivers.

Looking after the Shure gear is James Kohler, deputy head of sound, who says: "I've been using the Shure Micro Bodypacks for the past 18 months and they have been rock-solid. In fact they've been really good. Packs that I have used in the past have been too sensitive to heat problems and obviously with the packs strapped to the dancer's bodies, heat can become a bit of an issue. I haven't experienced that once with the Shure Micro Bodypacks."

He adds: "They sound really good and ther

UAE - Star Events Group has announced a new phase in its development plan which gives it a base in the Middle East for the first time. Working with Dubai based Quickfix Scaffolding Solutions (QFS) as the local partner, the new venture will see the Star Seating grandstand system available from this October throughout the Middle East.

Meeting the latest European standards for both space and safety, the air-insulated seats are particularly suited to very hot (and very cold) climates. To provide client flexibility, the same tip up seats can also be installed without any fixings on any flat surface.

The new venture will be headed locally by Quickfix MD Simon Wills who has over 30 years experience in the scaffolding industry throughout the world. Wills comments, "This new alliance will enable us to meet the needs of our existing clients who require a safety conscious company to

UK - Glee's transition to the stage has proved as huge a major hit. Following a sold-out US tour in 2010, the show crossed the Atlantic for an equally successful tour of the UK, including multiple sold out dates at both London and Dublin's The O2 and Manchester's MEN Arena this summer.

Clair Global provided the show's sound requirements, supplying two SD7s, one for the cast and one for the band, with JH Audio providing its JH 16 IEMs and founder Jerry Harvey performing monitor duties on the cast console.

"On last year's Glee tour I was using an analogue desk," says Harvey. "But this show has so many cues happening at the same time it was almost impossible to pull it off on an analogue desk, so I made the decision to go digital and move to an SD7.

"I have 96 inputs and 14 stereo IEM mixes for the actors and I find the snapshot function is very user friendl

UK / Czech Republic - Showlight 2013 takes place in ?eský Krumlov in the Czech Republic and the town's 13th century Gothic castle, with its connected theatre and conference centre which will be the main venue for the presentations and exhibition.

The organisers are beginning their search for speakers for Showlight 2013 and will be at at PLASA 2011 on stand 1-C25.

"If you're a manufacturer, installation or rental company, Showlight offers the perfect environment in which to network with lighting designers from all disciplines. As an exhibitor, you'll have three days in which to talk about your products and ideas in a relaxed, informal atmosphere," says a spokesman.

(Jim Evans)

Lebanon - Popular open-air nightclub Skybar features a Turbosound-based sound system. Louay Agha of Lebanon-based Thunder Electronics explains his original 2008 system design, "With Skybar being open to the elements I specified Turbosound's TCS-C series of weather-resistant loudspeakers, whose qualities are vitally important."

The system has seen an upgrade this year with the addition of eight TCX-12 two-way loudspeakers and six B-18 subwoofers from the Compact series, powered by Turbosound's latest DSP-based amplifier: the RACKDP-50, which delivers an impressive 1250 watts at 2 ohms from each of its four output channels.

"Skybar opens at 8pm each evening and functions as a chill-out lounge with food and background music," says Agha. "Then at midnight it fires up as a nightclub, with DJ sets and occasional live performances. So the loudspeakers need to

Seaside Saga - Blackpool North Pier Theatre has cancelled all its summer shows with immediate effect. Pier owner Peter Sedgwick, who bought the site earlier this year, says the move is to allow for essential restoration and refurbishment to guarantee the venue's future.

"North Pier Theatre will be closed in the short term as we begin a schedule of essential refurbishment and specialist restoration that cannot be carried out during the harsh winter months," Sedgwick told the Stage. "I sincerely apologise to all our patrons who have booked tickets to the shows and a full refund policy is currently in place".

The theatre plans include a full refurbishment of the dressings rooms, stage door entrance, green rooms and back of house areas.

Child's Play - Kinks singer Ray Davies has used his band's hit songs to write a musical play tracing the last

Sweden - Astrid Lindgren's character, Pippi Longstocking, took to the ice on a large scale production that toured across Sweden prior to the summer. Pippi - An Adventure on Ice mixed melody with skating and featured a spectacular set and lighting design.

Lighting designer for the tour was Palle Palmé who used a large Martin rig made up of 100-plus MAC luminaires to highlight the production, the first time a Swedish producer, PJP, has staged an ice show of this magnitude.

Palmé, who has worked with PJP for nearly 10 years on various productions, chose the Martin lighting both because of the reliability of the fixtures and because the rental company, Starlight, had a lot of Martin equipment in its inventory.

"I used MAC 2000 Profiles with custom gobos to toplight the ice in different patterns," Palmé explains. "The show included a lot

UK - RG Jones will present an overview of the sound for the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury, as part of the PLASA 2011 seminar programme, on Wednesday 14 September. The seminar is an entry-level primer on festival sound, designed for students taking accredited performing arts courses or apprenticeships who want to deepen their understanding of how festival audio production works.

Simon Honywill, project manager and FOH Engineer for RG Jones, will present the session. Honywill is one of the most respected sound designers within the industry. When he's not flying all over the world he is nurturing the next generation of sound designers at Deep Blue Sound - an established and specialised audio college.

He has been instrumental in the design and the implementation of the design for Glastonbury's iconic Pyramid Stage which has been consistently successful for the last four years.

Th

UK - A.C. Special Projects (ACSP) will attend PLASA 2011 (Stand 1-D32, Hall 1) to showcase and discuss examples of the many performance lighting, audio and AV system installations provided by the company.

ACSP design, supply and install lighting, sound and AV systems - as well as track and curtains, intercom and show relay. The company's previous installations range from a basic six circuit lighting bar, with a dimmer pack and lighting desk, to full blown theatre systems.

Working alongside designers and architects or directly for the performance venue, the company's fully qualified team of engineers will provide a first class finished system installation, on time and on budget.

ACSP has access to over 200 quality brands, including popular performance ranges from Chroma-Q, Jands, Spotlight, ETC, Philips Selecon, Pulsar, Sennheiser, Shure, Soundcraft, Allen & Heath, JBL, Andol

UK - Marquee Installations has completed the installation of sound systems and AV infrastructure for the new G Live venue in Guildford, including the FOH Martin Audio W8LM Mini Line Array system.

Replacing the old Civic Hall, which closed in 2004, the G Live venue provides a flexible performance hall, which accommodates 1,000 in all-seat or 1,700 in seated/standing modes. The venue also incorporates a flexible-use 100-seat studio space, substantial foyers, café and bars, kitchens to provide for banqueting, seminar and meeting rooms, dressing rooms plus green room and offices.

The hall acoustics and sound systems designs for G Live were specified by electro-acoustic consultants Peter Mapp + Associates. The main hall has been designed to be an acoustically dry space with an Acoustic Control Systems (ACS) system, supplied by RK Sound Engineering, giving the ability to alte

UK - The Sage Gateshead has installed a Midas PRO9 live performance system at front of house in its main auditorium.

"We first came across the Midas PRO series almost three years ago, when we used a PRO 6 on a large surround sound opera, Skellig," says The Sage Gateshead's head of technical operations, Chris Durant. "It was obvious that this was a product that would more than meet our needs when we needed to upgrade, and would reinforce our reputation as one of the best sounding music venues in the world."

"Our demands range from small school concerts to large conferences and orchestral events to world class amplified artists," says Durant. "The various I/O boxes available as part of the Midas digital system means that we've been able to come up with solutions for all of these, as well as applications that were previously impossible. We found

Croatia - L-Acoustics' Croatian distributor Dicroic has installed a 12XTi coaxial system into the Hotel Lone, an exclusive new resort on the waterfront of Lone Bay, situated in the protected Monte Mulini forest, Rovinj.

Part of the Croatian Maistra chain of hotels and resorts, Hotel Lone is Croatia's first five-star design hotel, providing a year-round leisure and business destination. Dicroic has installed an L-Acoustics system into the hotel's multi-purpose conference hall, designed to host a range of conferences as well as theatrical and concert events, as well as into the hotel's jazz club.

The 600-capacity congress hall has been installed with L-Acoustics 12XTis as a left/right system, with two 108Ps as delays and two ground stacked SB18i subwoofers, all powered by LA4 amplified controllers. Designed to provide complete and balanced coverage for the main auditorium, the s

UK - Given the unpredictable nature of the British climate, festival stages provide one of the toughest environments for sound reinforcement systems. The confidence of Wellington, Somerset, based rental company APR Audio in D.A.S. Audio's new Road Series stage monitors meant they had no qualms about giving the loudspeakers their world concert debut at three major UK festivals: London's Feis, the John Peel Stage at Glastonbury, and the Hop Farm festival in Kent.

APR's technical director Andy Reed comments, "We had never used D.A.S. before, but Sennheiser UK's Nick Pemberton suggested we have a look at them. My monitor engineer, Fabrizio, checked them out and suggested, 'Take these on; they're going to be great.' I took him at his word and they've performed way above our expectations.

"We chose them because they're light, they're active, and they're absolute dynamite,&

Spain - Martin Professional A/S has agreed with Ecler to end its longtime exclusive distributor relationship in Spain and to start a new distribution model. Effective 10 September, Martin will serve selected Spanish customers directly via a strong local presence administered by Martin Professional's headquarter office.

Martin Professional vice president distributor sales, Bruno Garros, commented on the change, "Ecler has been an extremely dedicated and reliable partner for Martin Professional for many years. The economic challenges in Spain have been great and Ecler's business reorientation towards AV systems integration required a sales reorganization for Martin products.

"Therefore, Martin will take care of selected top accounts, mainly rental companies, and Ecler will continue supplying to installers and system integrators. We believe this new structure will reinf

UK - CUK Audio has been appointed as the exclusive UK and Ireland distributor for the German pro audio brand T&M Systems. T&M Systems, located in Ibbenbüren, designs and manufactures a wide range of low impedance power amplifiers, 100V line amplifiers and 100V line mixer amps, DSP loudspeaker management systems and rack mount mixers, together with a line of passive and active loudspeakers.

Stuart Thomson, MD of CUK Audio commented, "We carried out a comprehensive evaluation of the T&M products before taking the decision to distribute the brand and it was the high build quality and feature sets that convinced us - and all at a great price point. A substantial bonus is the assurance T&M gives by way of a three-year warranty across their line of electronics - excellent for products at this price level. For the loudspeakers the warranty is five years."

Thomson continued

USA - Theatre Projects has opened their first office on the west coast. They've been working on the west coast for 30 years and "are thrilled to now have a permanent home in Los Angeles".

Some of their more visible west coast projects include the Walt Disney Concert Hall and Kodak Theatre. But their west coast work represents their practice as a whole, including regional theatres, university work, small-scale projects, performing arts centres, and renovations. Find out more about Theatre Projects' work on the west coast attheatreprojects.com.

Theatre Projects designs and plans performance spaces of every size and complexity and offers a broad range of services from auditorium and theatre equipment design to operations and business planning.

The new office is at 453 S. Spring Street, Suite 1230, Los Angeles, California 90013, T 213 375-3688.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Across the weekend of 16-17 July, Leeds Castle near Maidstone in Kent hosted a major two-day musical event, with large Outline GTO and Butterfly systems deployed by SRD Group for both concerts.

On Saturday the Heritage Events Leeds Castle Open Air Classical Concert 2011 featured the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra conducted by John Rigby, playing a wide selection of popular classics. Sunday saw a complete change of pace with 'Live At The Castle 2011', featuring Europe's No.1 boy band The Wanted alongside performances from Alexandra Burke, new girl-band Fanfare, Stacey Solomon, Eliza Doolittle and Aggro Santos amongst others.

The main L&R system was Outline's new flagship GTO line-source enclosure, flown 12-deep each side of the stage. Dual delay towers, each comprising 12 Outline Butterfly elements, were also deployed and combined seamlessly with the main system to p

Germany - The 25th Jazz an der Donau (Jazz on the Danube) festival ran from 14-17 July this year in Straubing, Bavaria. The event was marked not only by the performances of international acts including Toto, Al Jarreau, and LaBrass Banda, but also by the presence of over 11,000 fans - allowing festival organizers to celebrate a jubilee and an attendance record at the same time.

The sound reinforcement in the festival marquee, which can accommodate up to 4,500 people at a time, was once again the responsibility of a team of technicians led by Ingo Haasch, technical support manager, Pro Audio EMEA, EVI Audio.

Haasch relied largely on the equipment that had performed sterling service at the same event last year: an Electro-Voice XLC line-array system with FIR-Drive. This year the system's versatility was put to the test as never before, as the festival organizers opted to combine

UK - West London-based lighting rental company Colour Sound Experiment reached a record breaking peak of activity in its 21st year this August Bank Holiday weekend, supplying lighting equipment and crew to stages at Creamfields, Reading/Leeds and SW4 festivals as well as a number of band's 'specials' packages and two new contract rental venues, bringing the total of 'currents' to eight.

The statistics include over 700 moving lights - a mix of Clay Paky, GLP, Martin Professional, Robe and Vari*lite; three systems of the new BT12 scenic LED screen - two at SW4 and one as part of a specials package for U.N.K.L.E. - totalling about 100sq.m; over 300 LED lighting fixtures - including i-Pix Satellites, BB4s and BB7s, Chroma-Q ColorForce 72s and PixelLine 1044s; about 200 Atomic strobes, and "serious numbers" of blinders.

The hectic long weekend saw a variety of lighting co

USA - Nestled among the scenic red mesas of the southern Nevada desert, the Eureka Casino Resort is a favourite with golfers and gamers alike. The 214-room resort is located about 80 miles north of Las Vegas, surrounded by six world class golf courses, and offers a variety of slot and video poker machines, blackjack, craps, roulette, and a 24-hour poker room with daily tournaments.

Eureka is also the frequent site for activities to support the surrounding community of Mesquite. For its annual Rockets over the Red Mesa 4 July celebration, the resort recently hosted the 31-piece Nevada POPS Orchestra performing a 75-minute programme of American standards.

To ensure the property is well equipped to cater to the needs of its guests and its community, the Casino recently underwent major renovations. A resort-style pool and cabana were constructed, numerous amenities were add

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