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Greece - Thirty years after Pink Floyd first performed the Roger Waters written spectacular The Wall, Roger Waters has been touring a new version of the show, complete with extravagant 3D animations, pyrotechnics and inflatables.

While the original production cost around £1 million to stage and was so big that it could only take in three cities, its 21st century counterpart has reputedly cost £37m and has been performed a total of 120 times at venues all around North America and Europe.

This spectacular tour culminated in Athens in July, where Waters performed three shows at the 2004 Olympic Stadium. These were captured for posterity by a crew of nearly 100 people just to tackle the filming, making this the biggest European concert film project for nearly 30 years. The video for The Wall Live In Athens was shot on mainly 4K high-definition cameras but

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Russia - DJ Moby released his latest album Destroyed in May then promptly hit the road on a world tour in support of it. His 7 June show at the Yubileyny Sports Palace in St. Petersburg was one of the highlights of the tour with lighting designer Stuart Farrell opening up a new realm of lighting impression with the help of Martin fixtures.

The biggest rental company in the area, Euroshow, supplied the lighting and sound equipment for the event. "Moby's performance was one of the best I've seen in years," commented Alexander Blednykh, owner of Euroshow. "We've worked with the singer before but his latest show left a lasting impression. Today's audience doesn't want to be confronted with deep issues; they come to a concert to raise their spirits, and Moby understands this. But the greatest thing is that he gave a splendid light show, a show that I will never

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USA - The new Kauffman Centre for the Performing Arts, which opened 16 September in Kansas City, Missouri, has taken delivery of six Robert Juliat Victor 1800W MSR followspots provided by Clair Brothers Systems.

A new venue for music, opera, theater and dance, The Kauffman Centre will be the home of the Kansas City Ballet, Kansas City Symphony and Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Its 1,800-seat Muriel Kauffman Theatre and 1,600-seat Helzberg Hall are housed in a dramatic shell, designed by famed architect Moshe Safdie, and sheathed in glass and stainless steel. The Muriel Kauffman Theatre will host dance and theatrical performances; Helzberg Hall will be the principal locale for music, from chamber groups and jazz and pop performers to full orchestras.

Placido Domingo, Itzhak Perlman and Diana Krall inaugurated the Kauffman Centre with two days of glittering grand-opening events an

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Spain - During three days in July the Low Cost Festival in Benidorm featured large crowds and more than 50 bands playing. Highlights of this year's event were acts including Ok Go, Crystal Castles, Eli 'Paperboy' Reed, FM Belfast, Sexy Sadie, Sidonie, Dorian, and Mika.

The Low Cost Festival boasts three main stages and this year Stage 2 was powered by an RCF TT+ sound system.

RCF product specialist Oscar Mora was at the festival to provide assistance to the rental company and FOH engineers.

"With an average SPL at 115dB's and audience around 15.000 people per night the RCF TT+ system performed with excellent results. Stage 2 delivered awesome sound," says Oscar Mora.

(Jim Evans)

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Norway - Norway has become the first stop in an extensive EMEA-wide (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) roadshow that is designed to give everyone a chance to take a look for themselves at the next generation Vista v2 software - for the Jands Vista lighting and media control range.

Vista v2 was designed from the ground up to allow all levels of users to get the most from whatever mix of technology they have available, whether dimmers, moving lights, LED, or media, says the company. Available in a wide range of hardware Vista v2 offers both the simplicity to work fast, with the power to control the finest details, so everyone can focus on creating a great looking show rather than on programming a desk.

Jands Europe's Neil Vann says, "If you haven't seen Vista v2 for yourself yet, don't miss this fantastic opportunity to take a proper hands-on look in a relaxed, local envi

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Serbia / Belgium - The Vojvodina clinical centreprovides emergency and regular health care for the city of Novisad and Vojvodina, the northern province of Serbia. The hospital was completed in 2010. The hospital also houses research and housing facilities of the University of Novi Sad.

The hospital presently counts 1300 beds and a staff of more than 2700. On a surface of more than 9500m² there are: 360 APart CM6SF ceiling speakers with fire dome, 50 CM3T mini ceiling speakers and 120 EVOL20 volume controls.

At Knokke on Belgium's North Sea coast, a number of Apart MASK speakers have been installed on various terraces and outdoor locations. The speakers withstand sand, salt and moisture and are ideal these beachfront locations, says the company.

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Norway - For the fourth year running, Norwegian PA company, Sceneservice, provided sound, light and staging for the Blues in Hell Festival, selecting Allen & Heath iLive digital mixing systems for FOH and monitors.

The festival derives its name from the location, which is the village of Hell in the Nord-Trondelag area of Norway. The main festival venue is the Magic Mirror, a spectacular tent from the Belgian Company, Magic Mirrors, which hosted headline performances from artists including Delbert McClinton, Johnny Winter, Popa Chubby and Jeniva Magness.

Sceneservice selected an iDR10 MixRack with iLive-144 Control Surface for FOH, and an iDR-32 MixRack and a xDR-16 expander rack with iLive-T80 Surface for monitors. There was also an analogue split to provide a broadcast feed.

"Our experiences with the iLive system have proven it to be very reliable, nicely compact for s

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UK - Lorna Watson and Ingrid Oliver have started filming their new six part sketch show which will be aired on BBC2 in the New Year.

Richard Martin Lighting (RML) supports the show, which is comprised of a mix of live and pre recorded sketches. RML is providing a Spark Top desk and 20 MAC 700s for the show.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Saville Audio Visual provided the staging and facilities for the launch of Fiery Irn-Bru, a limited edition soft drink from Scottish drinks group, AG Barr. The new brand was launched to the public in Glasgow's George Square by former AG Barr chairman Robin Barr, who donned protective gloves to pull the first-ever bottle out of a furnace to present to the gathered crowd.

The Saville team provided full project support for the outdoor event, from the design process through to production and delivery. The facilities included staging, truss and a PA rig for the 300-strong audience, plus smoke machines and external and internal lighting to create the realistic furnace effects.

The spicy version of the more familiar fizzy drink will be on sale alongside 'trick or treat' packs to coincide with Halloween.

Saville business manager for Scotland, Chris Lawson said, "Designing

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UK - ER Productions of London had been looking for a wireless control solution for years. Finally, after a demonstration from TMB of LumenRadio's wireless DMX system, they realised their search was over.

As a laser production company, ER relies heavily on atmospheric products being in the right place at the right time, and always on cue. This is especially true at festivals, where, given the unpredictable conditions, it is essential to tick all the boxes and prepare for every eventuality. In the past this meant spending many hours of precious load-in time running looms to smoke machine positions all over fields, tents, and staging areas.

"To say we love the LumenRadio wireless DMX is an understatement," says Ryan Hagen, managing director of ER. "It's fantastic in every way possible. The small robust design is perfect for touring, allows for easy and creative set

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USA - Two life-sized pirate ships, bands of swashbucklers sword fighting across a 15ft-deep lagoon, sails unfurling and props descending from the sky...there's nothing like a major family entertainment attraction to challenge every aspect of theatrical production.

When Mike Compton of Pirates Voyage took on the challenge of bringing the new attraction to life in Myrtle Beach, SC, he turned to the rigging experts from J. R. Clancy. Compton had worked with Clancy on three other recentprojects, so he knew they could help make the technical aspects of this show as exciting as they could be.

The latest attraction from Dolly Parton, Pirates Voyage moved into the building that housed her famous Dixie Stampede attraction for 19 seasons. Transforming a former Dixie Stampede hippodrome into a pirates' show in just five months - from its closing in January 2011 to its grand reopening on

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Germany - At the world premiere of autosymphonic in Mannheim on 10 September, in addition to the musical composition, video and laser shows were major constituents of the proceedings. The event was staged by photographer and video artist Horst Hamann, a native of Mannheim, media designer Thomas Gerdon, and tarm Showlaser's laser specialists.

The 20,000 attendees witnessed a plethora of music, light, laser effects, and images in the heart of the city. Its water tower was repeatedly bathed in a rash of the most fascinating of colours, while laser beams, split-second synchronized to the music, streaked across the night sky.

Recurrent highlights were a total of 800, various, automobile sounds, such as the slamming of car doors, the screeching of windshield wipers, or the din of wheel rims beaten with drum sticks, played correspondingly to symphonic-orchestra instruments, th

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Italy - A range of Fohhn loudspeaker systems, DSP-controlled amplifiers and the new PS-9 high-powered active subwoofer were selected for sound reinforcement at the recent Notti di Luce festival in Bergamo, Italy.

The festival is a celebration of light and music, with many events taking place in various venues. A series of live concerts featuring classical, pop and rock music was held in the Piazza Matteotti, which has an audience capacity of over 10,000. The main stage area was exclusively equipped with Fohhn's high quality systems.

Two sets of 12 PT-9 line arrays were flown either side of the stage, with a dozen PT-8 compact line array systems used for near-field and side field areas. Fohhn's X-Series XT-10 systems were also used to provide front-fills for covering the first few audience rows, while XM-4 wedges provided on-stage monitoring for the performers.

Twelve of Fohh

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UK - Hawthorn Walling Systems has just celebrated its first birthday. Hawthorn Walling Systems designs and manufactures set, stand and display solutions for exhibitions, conferences and product launches.

The first year of trading has been "phenomenal", says the company. The bespoke in-house workshop has already been extended and the team has expandedsignificantly to meet ongoing demand for the Walling Systems product.

Hawthorn Walling Systems uses a patented tensioned fabric on an aluminium frame system to create seamless high resolution panels for the events and exhibition industry. The product is lightweight, modular, quick to build and easily re-brandable for road shows, multiple brands/languages and also helps clients to reduce their transport costs and enhance their eco credentials.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Rhondda-based AB Acoustics, one of Wales' leading suppliers of audio equipment for hire, sales or installation, have increased their inventory of EAW components, with the acquisition of the compact KF730 line array and more powerful KF740 system.

Established in 1989, the company headed by Huw 'Buzz' Evans and Rob Ashton had been running EAW's popular KF750 as its premier system for the past eight years.

In March this year the company invested in 12 of the compact KF730 line array elements, complemented by six SB730 subs, which extend the response down to 35Hz.

But with the busy outdoor season looming they also realised they needed the larger footprint of the KF740 system, with its four phase-aligned 10in woofers, for wider site coverage - and four months later invested in 18 enclosures, along with the dedicated UX8800 4-in/8-out digital system processor to run with thei

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Germany / China - Pan Acoustics GmbH, the German manufacturer of the Pan Beam, easy to control Digital Steerable Loudspeakers, has announced continued growth of its

distribution network in the form of a new distribution partnership with CY-Communications

Ltd. for Hong Kong, China and Macau.

CY-Communications Ltd specializes in providing leading audio and video solutions to enable

businesses to communicate internally with remote office staff and externally with their customers. The flagship product is the V2 Conference System which provides videoconferencing

but also the WowVision, proVeos wireless presentation systems.

"Their prior success with the V2 Conference System and WOW Vision products speaks well for their future growth with our Pan Beam products," says Pan Acoustics.

To complete the AV product line-up, CY has taken Pan Beam on board to fulfill the

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Lecture Notes - Pete Townshend is to deliver the inaugural John Peel Lecture, in which he will assess the state of music in the internet age. The lecture, part of the Radio Festival in Salford at the end of this month, will become an annual event given by a different music figure every year. Townshend will ask how musicians can survive in the age of free downloads. The lecture, named in honour of legendary DJ Peel, who died in 2004, will be broadcast live on BBC 6 Music.

Townshend said he was "honoured" to be asked to deliver the address, adding that the former BBC Radio 1 DJ had introduced him to bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Undertones before they had signed record deals. "John didn't just listen to music, he played it on air and let his audience decide," the 66-year-old guitarist said. In his lecture, Townshend will pose the question: "C

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World - PLASA members worldwide have begun voting in the Association's yearly elections, which commenced this week.

The month-long ballot, in which over 1,000 members participate, will decide places on PLASA's European and North American Regional Boards, together with a single seat on its over-arching Governing Body.

The two Regional Boards are still a relatively new concept for PLASA, having been formally launched at the start of 2011. Their role is to represent the interests of members affiliated to those regions, ensuring that PLASA offers strong on the ground support to members.

Both the North American and European Regional Boards are looking to fill a number of places for 2012. Following the death of the European Chair Rob Lingfield earlier this year, Ed Pagett of Panalux, who served as Vice Chair, is standing for the position of Chair. A number of representative positi

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UK - CITC, located in the USA, has been in the forefront of manufacturing unique and exciting effects equipment for many years, and White Light is proud to announce their exclusive distributorship for the European community.

Their President, Gary Crawford, is well known for his work as a Special Effects Coordinator, and has worked on such movies as E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, 2010, Poltergeist, Halloween III, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and many more well known films, his first being Camelot. He is also the recipient of the 1997 LDI award for Best Atmospheric Effects for SnoBiz biodegradable snow. They offer a comprehensive selection of products including the popular Dream Teams which encompass larger areas for audience-participation.

Their most popular, the Little Blizzard Dream Team, was the original and first of its kind. It sends snow over a 24m X 15m area, and includ

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USA - At colleges and universities around the world, technical directors are often faced with the same challenge when it comes to lighting control for their performance season. Using primarily student technicians, the control console must be intuitive enough for a novice programmer, but also must be able to handle the creative needs of seasoned programmer when the production calls for it.

Such is the case at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY, where technical director Shawn DuBois oversees a full production schedule using student technicians, and who has found a solution to his lighting control challenge at the Arthur Zenkel Music Centre with the Light Palette Live control console from Philips Strand Lighting.

"The Arthur Zenkel Music Centre is home to the Skidmore College music programmes and 90% of the performances we do are acoustic in nature and classically-base

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USA - Originally constructed in 1919, St. Joseph's Cathedral in Sioux Falls, SD recently put the finishing touches on a decade-long restoration project. Totalling more than $16m, the extensive renovation and restoration process of the majestic church was overseen by architect Duncan G. Stroik.

Intrinsic to the project was replacing the church's 25 year-old sound system. Serving as Mother Church to the Diocese, as well as parish church for Sioux Falls and other surrounding parishes, St. Joseph's masses services are well attended by hundreds of parishioners. The new sound system had to provide high speech intelligibility and crystal clear sound to every seat in the house.

The project proved quite challenging, according to Peter Borchard of MuSonics Audio. MuSonics has designed audio solutions for many large cathedrals across the country.

"The church has a lot of reflectiv

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UK - Green Hippo reports a busy and successful PLASA 2011. 2011 saw Green Hippo move to Hall 1, conveniently situated for passing traffic and easy to find, due to its trademark double-decker stand and the slightly green glow emanating all-round.

The stand was never empty with visitors stopping by repeatedly and the upstairs area provided the perfect space for meetings or a chance to chill out with a drink from the strains of the show - perhaps with a pint of UberBrew or a glass of the green GrassHopper, says the company.

As always, the run-up to the show was a busy time with programming, building a house and not least of all with Green Hippo's new brochure finally ready and printed only days before the doors opened. With demonstrations and meetings as well as the usual dinners, parties and entertainment everyone was kept thoroughly busy for the four show-days.

Green Hippo's

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France - Inspired by the myth of the Fountain of Youth, a legendary spring that reputedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks its waters, La Fontaine de Jouvence in Puteaux has recently been rejuvenated by a multicoloured, dynamic underwater illumination system.

4J Événements, the company in charge of the lighting installation of the fountain, has chosen with the help of CSI, Griven's exclusive distributor for France, the best solution for this project. After the necessary renovations of the square in front of the city hall, la Fountaine de Jouvence has been sparkling in coloured lights since last July.

A DMX programmable lighting system based on submerged LED fixtures, Griven's Waterled, reproduces every night a series of stunning dynamic lighting schemes highlighting, in alternative appealing sequences of bright colours, the dancing water jets patterns. Blu

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Italy - With a role that included AV consulting, theatre consulting, and project management for all entertainment systems on board Costa Cruise's new flagship, the Costa Favolosa, Nautilus Entertainment of San Diego specified the systems shipwide, with a DiGiCo SD7T chosen for its impressive theatre.

Following a three-day July vernissage cruise from Venice, the Costa Favolosa (114,500 gross tonnage and 3,800 total guests) began offering Eastern Mediterranean cruises, before being positioned in Dubai for eight-day Arabian Nights cruises in the UAE and Oman for the winter 2011/2012 season.

With its 13 passenger decks, the Favolosa, built entirely in Italy by Fincantieri, is the largest ship flying the Italian flag and offers guests a wide range of leisure and entertainment amenities, the latter including the three-deck Hortensia theatre, featuring a concentrate of cutting edge A

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  6. Mojo at Reading and Leeds Festivals
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