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UK - Lighting and visuals rental and solutions provider HSL continued a massively busy touring season supplying lighting, LED screen, rigging and a Kinesys automation system to Production North for street dance troupe sensation, Diversity's first major arena tour.

HSL has worked with Production North on many different projects. Once again, Mike Oates project managed for the Blackburn based company, with set, visuals and lighting designed by Peter Barnes, working in close conjunction with Diversity's creative director and leader, Ashley Banjo.

On the road, lighting was looked after and operated by Neil Trenell. An HSL crew of six took care of lighting and video and the Kinesys system, together with rigger John Ashton, who put in the 58 points each day.

Sarah Hollis, production manager for Production North, remarked that it was "Excellent" to deal with one company an

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UK - Show sponsor Martin Professional is celebrating its 25th Anniversary at PLASA 2012 and will be holding a number of celebratory and VIP events at stand 1-F44 including prize draws for the chance to win Martin products.

"We look forward to celebrating with all our friends in the lighting industry and invite everyone to our stand for a chat and a celebratory drink and not least the chance to get an up-close look at the new MAC Viper series and other innovations as well," says Martin UK sales director Mike Walker.

"The feedback we've received on the Viper series has been unprecedented as our pre-sales numbers attest to. It is truly a ground-breaking moving head and contains all of our accumulated knowledge over the past 25 years. It is nothing short of spectacular and we are confident that lighting designers will feel the same."

Martin will be showing a

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UK - The third annual PLASA Rigging Conference will welcome over 200 international attendees at the Earls Court Conference Centre in London on Monday 10 and Tuesday 11 September 2012.

With UK and worldwide bookings well up on last year and with a strong international flavour to its speakers and seminar sessions, the PLASA Rigging Conference confirms its status as the premier event worldwide dedicated to all things rigging.

Opening with an unmissable speech from original 'Disney Rigger' Roy Bickel, one of the founders of the modern rigging industry and closing with Question Time hosted by Alan Jacobi LVO, MD of Unusual Rigging, the conference is packed with sessions from industry experts.

On Monday 10 September, the thorny issue of developing standardised common practice will be debated by Rinus Bakker and Roy Schilderman from ARGH in Holland along with panellists Cris

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USA - Nortek Inc has announced the formation of Core Brands, a new group that combines the product and marketing strengths of 10 of the company's formerly independent audio, power management and control brands operating within its Technology Solutions segment.

Including Nortek's Aton, BlueBOLT, Elan, Furman, Niles, Panamax, Proficient, SpeakerCraft, Sunfire and Xantech brands, Core Brands has more than 190 years of combined experience in the residential, commercial and professional markets and over 4,300 direct customer accounts in multiple distribution channels in the US and worldwide.

Core Brands will be based in Petaluma, Calif., with offices in Carlsbad and Riverside, Calif., and Marblehead, Mass. Bill Pollock, who has served as president of Panamax, will lead Core Brands. Dave Keller, vice president of sales and marketing for Panamax/Furman, will handle worldwide sales. K

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UK - Opened in 1879, Glasgow Central is Scotland's busiest railway station, with around 34m people passing through the station every year.

As part of a national programme of investment in infrastructure by Network Rail, who operate and are responsible for Glasgow Central, a new public address system was required as part of a wider renovation of this important transport hub. Previously, the station had a long-standing problem with intelligibility due to the cavernous nature of the iconic structure and its architecture, with expansive reflective floor surfaces, sandstone walls and a glass roof all contributing to a very lengthy reverberation time.

To handle the extensive audio upgrade, Network Rail and main contractor Babcock brought in respected UK-based sound and communications company TG Baker, having developed a strong working relationship with them over previous rail networ

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UK - One of the first LDs in the world to get his hands on Martin Professional's new MAC Viper Profile moving head is UK lighting designer Matt Mawdsley who recently used the powerful 1000 W fixture on the Red Bull Badminton Super Final at Central Hall Westminster in London on 6 August.

Hailing the Viper Profile as the fixture he has been waiting for, Mawdsley covered the venue's dome ceiling and stage in images and patterns. Lighting rental company Stage Electrics supplied the Vipers and other lighting for the event.

"The MAC Viper Profile is really bright and produces perfect colours with really sharp image quality," he says. "I had many people ask what the lights were because of the gobo sharpness and brightness. I've never had that happen before."

Badminton England and Red Bull China hosted the special event, which showcased some of the best amateur b

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UK - A.C. Special Projects (ACSP) has supplied a quantity of customised Anolis ArcPad Xtreme LED fixtures and Pharos architectural control, to illuminate the roof structure of the new Western Concourse at London's King's Cross railway station.

Part of a five-year programme to restore and improve the station, the Western Concourse delivers the biggest transformation in the 160-year history of the Grade-I listed station to date, marking the completion of yet another element of Network Rail's plans for the future of rail travel in the UK.

The stunning new roof structure has been cleverly blended with the station's heritage to create a space for passengers that is three times larger than the 1970's concourse, with improved transport links.

More than 47m passengers a year travelling through the Kings Cross interchange will benefit from a raft of improvements, including the new li

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Australia - A state-of-the-art black box theatre, complete with retractable seats, motorised truss systems, operable walls, an impressive digital sound and lighting system, recording studio, dressing rooms, and box office are just a few of the features of Redcliffe State High School's new 260 seat blackbox theatre - The Bird's Nest.

The Queensland School will now be able to engage their students through the performing arts as well as through vocational education with students able to complete a Certificate II in live production theatre and events, as well as technical operations, and a Certificate II in set production and prop making.

As a blackbox theatre, The Bird's Nest has the flexibility to host any kind of performance, ranging from traditional theatre set up, theatre in the round, or they can run conferences.

The lighting installation was installed by Macrosphere. The

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UK - Glasgow-based CUK Audio, has been appointed the UK distributor for Pan Beam, the advanced steerable audio specialist from Wolfenbüttel in Germany.

An established leader in beam steering, Pan Beam's range of self-powered, DSP controlled column loudspeakers are designed to provide solutions for speech and music even in the most difficult of surroundings, delivering optimum sound quality in halls and other reverberant spaces.

Stuart Thomson, MD of CUK Audio explained their choice of Pan Beam, "With steerable columns being established in the market place over the last 10+ years, many companies have engineered their own solutions as part of an existing range of products in an attempt to tap into the growing market. We have looked at the various solutions appearing in the market and all had their strengths and weaknesses. We were looking for a company that specialised in

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USA - Over 100 Iluminarc exterior lighting solutions permanently light five landmark bridges over downtown Tampa's Hillsborough River. The project entitled Agua Luces or Water Lights is part of the Lights On Tampa arts initiative, a joint public and private partnership between the City of Tampa's Arts Division and Friends of Tampa Public Art. The completion of Agua Luces coincides with the Republican National Convention, which the city is hosting 28-30 August 28 -2012.

A few years in the making, the Agua Luces project complements The Tampa Riverwalk expansion with a paved walkway on the eastern side of the river that highlights specific vistas of the city, river and newly lit bridges. Designing the lighting aspect of Agua Luces is Tracey Dear of Chicago-based Dear Productions. Dear, known for illuminating Chicago's bridges, specified the outdoor-rated, LED-fitted I

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USA - Like most of New Jersey's seaside communities, life on resort island Brigantine near Atlantic City is affected by the seasons. In the summer months, the sun seekers and beach lovers help to swell the congregation at St. Thomas the Apostle from 1,000 to more than 3,000 - well beyond what their existing sanctuary can handle. As Bobby Harper, VP of Sales at Egg Harbor-based ACIR Professional explains, the church came up with a creative solution.

"It's an older structure, and it has some history, and they didn't want to just tear it down and build something bigger," says Harper. "So they opted to renovate the original building and also build an event centre, which could handle the overflow, as well as other functions."

Using the seasonal population shifts to their advantage, the project was carried out in two phases. "The first summer, they used the

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UK - Manchester-based lighting and visuals rental company dbn has continued its work with ground-breaking theatre and arts companies with the supply of lighting equipment and design for the acclaimed recent production of Cycle Song in the grounds of Brumby Hall, Scunthorpe.

The new large-scale community opera was a collaboration between Huddersfield based theatre company Proper Job and Scunthorpe Cooperative Junior Choir.

Directed by Jamie Beale, it told the emotional and compelling story of Albert 'Lal' White, Scunthorpe steelworker and winner of countless cycling trophies including an Olympic Silver medal in Antwerp in 1920.

dbn's Pete Robinson was asked to create a lighting scheme for the show which took place over two nights to completely sold out audiences. It featured a stark atmospheric distressed industrial set designed by Rhys Jarman, a cast of hundreds and t

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UK - Since its inception four years ago, the Rewind festival has seen the 1980s reborn for two days every year in Henley-on-Thames, while its sister event - at Scone Palace in Scotland - made its debut in 2011. Both enjoy the benefits of great audio courtesy of Capital Sound.

Rewind attracts a wide demographic, from legwarmer-toting 40 and 50-somethings keen to recapture their Pac Man-inspired youth for a weekend, to their children and many younger people keen to discover if the music of the 1980s stands up to 21st century scrutiny.

Despite acts on this year's bill like OMD, Midge Ure and Big Country still commanding a fair amount of respect amongst fans, the festival's emphasis is very much on fun, with the likes of Right Said Fred, Village People, Chesney Hawkes, Sinitta, Jimmy Somerville and Five Star delivering the requisite amount of tongue-in-cheek cheese.

Capital Soun

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UK - As part of its music and arts promotional campaign, coffee shop chain Caffè Nero is hosting an ongoing series of free live gigs by up-and-coming artists at its UK outlets. July has seen guitarist/singer-songwriter Jamie Abbott nominated as the retailer's Artist of the Month, accompanied by a compact K-array KB-1 audio system as he travelled across the UK.

Abbott's tour has visited 30 Caffè Nero outlets, tying many of them in with sets at local radio stations. This has meant that he was often playing two or three gigs in different towns or cities on the same day.

Accompanied by upright bass player Tom Kenrick, Abbott needed a high quality but portable system, which could be deployed and packed away again quickly.

Distributed in Britain by Sennheiser UK, the K-array Blueline KB-1 comprises of a 12" sub and eight 3.15" mid/high loudspeakers in line array format

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USA - PLASA Events reports that momentum for PLASA Focus: Stamford 2012 is growing fast, with a host of new exhibitors choosing their positions on the show floor. The free two-day event takes place 12-13 November at the Stamford Marriott, Connecticut, and will showcase the very latest in theatre and event production technology.

Confirmed exhibitors already include; coolux, Elation, Rosco, BMI Supply, Clay Paky, acouStaCorp, LEX Products, Barbizon, Limelight Productions, ALPS, Ultratec, Drape Kings, iWeiss, LynTec, Navigator Systems, Production Advantage, AC Lighting, TMB, Syracuse Scenery, Applied Electronics, Robert Juliat, CAST, A.C.T. Lighting, MDG, Avolites, Wireless Solution, JB-lighting, Creative Stage Lighting, Thern Stage Equipment, and High End, with many more applications being processed.

The 'new style' of event is designed to bring the very best in new produ

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Australia - Korngold's opera Die tote Stadt successfully premiered at the Sydney Opera House with IOSONO 3D sound on 30 June, 2012. The elaborate production by Opera Australia is breaking new ground as the orchestra's music is streamed live to the Opera Theatre using IOSONO's 3D sound technology. While the musicians are playing live in the neighbouring studio, cinematic surround sounds fill the theatre bringing the performance to the audience and singers.

For Die tote Stadt IOSONO 3D sound creates a unique acoustical reproduction of the physically absent orchestra by building an acoustical hologram of the orchestra in one of the world's most famous concert halls. This approach is a special experience for the audience, as well as for the singers on stage, creating a fascinating interplay between the live-performance and the streamed orchestra in 3D sound.

Tony Dav

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USA - For three evenings in July, 45,000-plus fervent fans gathered at the Lollapalooza festival's Bud Light Stage to hear some of the world's top musical acts, including Black Sabbath with Ozzy Osbourne, Avicii, Justice, and Franz Ferdinand. To deliver their music with full impact across the 7.5-acre grassy quadrangle, Thunder Audio of Livonia, Mich. assembled a massive sound reinforcement system built around 76 Meyer Sound Milo line array loudspeakers.

"The Milo system sounded phenomenal, as it always does," comments Thunder's Gregory Snyder, who served as system designer and project manager for the event. "The FOH mixers for every act were amazed with how smooth and coherent the system was, regardless of levels."

Anchoring the sound at the stage were dual main hangs of 18 per side Milo loudspeakers, supplemented by out-fills of eight Milo loudspeakers ea

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USA - PLASA is pleased to announce six finalists in the fifth annual Rock Our World Awards, to be presented at the PLASA Cocktail & Awards Reception at LDI 2012. The Rock Our World Awards were created to honour ground-breaking achievement by PLASA members and to acknowledge the genius of both the creator of the technology and the designer or integrator who applies it in a real world environment.

The finalists for the fifth annual Rock Our World Awards are:

• GLD Digital Mixer - Allen & Heath Ltd.

• Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary Celebration - IATSE Local 16

• Green-GO Communication System - ELC Lighting

• Hot Wheels Fearless at the 500 - Applied Electronics, Entertainment Structures Group

• MA onPC command wing - MA Lighting International GmbH

• 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara - PRG

Winners will be selected by a top-notch p

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UK - In one of the biggest comebacks of recent times, the Stone Roses chose to work with lighting designer Paul Normandale to design a light and video show to complement their highly anticipated reunion tour this summer.

Amongst other fixtures sharing the stage with the Mancunian band were Clay Paky Sharpys, with the entire show being controlled by the grandMA2 full-size.

"The Stone Roses are a band that focuses on the impact of the music, rather than big production going on around them, and so our challenge was to create a light show that doesn't overwhelm the music but allows the audience, and the band to 'feel' the lighting design connecting to the music," noted grandMA2 programmer Glen Johnson of Lite Alternative.

"We would describe the Stone Roses show as a 'busk show' - it isn't completely pre-programmed. Using the grandMA2 allowed Paul [Normandale] to r

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UK - Devon- based drapes, starcloth, LED and visual effects specialists S+H Technical Support has supplied 8000sq.m of its ShowLED Animation curtain to the new series of Sky's popular dating games show, Love Machine, currently being recorded at Pinewood Studios.

The Animation curtain was specified by set designer Patrick Doherty, for whom S+H have supplied many other projects, including the inaugural series of Love Machine last year.

It is being used to wrap around the entire back of the set and create spectacular patterns, texturing and other ambient effects - for which is it a highly cost effective solution.

S + H is also supplying a substantial quantity of its ShowLED Chameleon RGB Starcloth to the series, which is being utilised to mask around the back of the live audience.

The package is completed with a selection of black drapes.

In combination, all t

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Italy - Sting headlined the Italian debut of Adamson's Energia E15 system in Italy at the 2012 Umbria Jazz festival in Perugia.

The system was provided by Lombardi SLR, the first full service hire company in Italy to purchase E15's and join the growing global team of Energia rental companies. Based in Termoli, located on the Adriatic Sea, Lombardi carries a sizable existing Adamson inventory of Y18, Y10, T21 Sub, SpekTrix, Metrix, M15 & M215 monitors.

Historically Lombardi has worked with some of the biggest names in Italian touring including Gigi D'alessio, Anna Tatangelo, and provided sound production for high profile events such as Umbria Jazz & Notte Della Taranta.

Reference Laboratory is in charge of all audio production at Umbria and turned to Cristiano Grassini, Lombardi FOH and systems engineer to take the lead as the head of sound on the main stage - Arena Santa Giu

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Spain - With any festival, reliable systems are of paramount importance, but when it's the San Sebastian International Jazz Festival (Jazzaldia), then clarity and power are also big concerns.

This event saw some of the finest musicians in the jazz world take to the various stages, with Spanish company Soinua relying on its collection of Lab.gruppen amplifiers to provide the power and musicality required.

A total of 14 PLM 10000Q's were used on the main PA, which powered a rig featuring Electrovoice X-Line, with a mixture of Xvls, Xvlt and Xsubs. The monitor duties were handled by a further six PLM 10000Q's.

"We have around 30 Lab.gruppen amplifiers in our inventory," said Jorge De La Torre, owner of Soinua. "The reason we chose to invest in that technology is because we wanted to tool to unify all of our systems and improve the overall quality of the audio. Si

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Brazil - With the annual TV show Criança Esperança (Child Hope) Brazil's biggest TV channel TV Globo collects funds to support social projects assisting children's development across the whole country. This project started in 1986 and has to date collected over 200m Reals (100m USD).

In the past, lighting for the show - staged in Rio de Janeiro's HSBC Arena this year - was controlled using a grandMA series 1 console. However this moved to two grandMA2 light for 2012 with two MA NPU (Network Processing Unit) and four MA 2Port Node onPC PRO.

Lighting designer and director of Spectrum Design e Iluminaçao Marcos Olivio commented, "The grandMA2 system was chosen a long time ago. As most shows we are working on are DVD shoots, live and corporate events, the system has to be flexible and stable. The real time control, the easy and comfortable programming and overall fu

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Denmark - Having recently been awarded a contract to relay 300 Superliga football matches over the next three years, Danish event and television production specialist dbLux has taken delivery of a new outside broadcast truck, complete with a DiGiCo SD10B digital console.

The Superliga is Denmark's top football league, featuring 12 teams who play each other three times during the season. The teams finishing in the top four places at the end of the season gain places in the UEFA Champions League and Europa League, so competition between the comparatively small number of clubs is fierce.

In order to fulfil this, along with other outside broadcast and music production tasks, a new 10 camera HD truck was built by Avit Systems A/S, who also installed all the technical equipment and infrastructure. Built to conform with EBU R128 loudness standards, the truck's SD10B was supplied by D

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