USA - Train is just wrapping up their sold-out California 37 tour on the heels of their sixth studio album of the same name that has already produced the certified platinum single Drive By and 50 Ways to Say Goodbye.

Based in San Francisco, Train consists of a core trio comprising Pat Monahan (vocals), Jimmy Stafford (guitar) and Scott Underwood (drums). Over the years, the band has produced successful albums such as their eponymous debut Train.

The California 37 tour started in Canada and has ranged throughout North America in a variety of venues including amphitheatres, arenas and theatres. Delicate Productions of Camarillo and San Francisco, who has already successfully deployed Martin Audio's award-winning MLA (Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array) system with Selena Gomez, relied on a system for the tour that consisted of 11 MLA and one MLD

UK - Audio manufacturer Flare Audio ensured pure sound quality for the launch weekend of Gibb Street Warehouse this October. The launch was celebrated with two very special nights headlined by Marco Carola and John Digweed; Marco flew in from completing a hugely successful summer residence in Ibiza for his newly launched 'Music On' nights, whilst John Digweed headed up internationally renowned club brand Renaissance's 20th Anniversary celebrations.

Renaissance promoter and Gibb Street venue owner Geoff Oakes called on Sheffield-based production company Mustt Audio to configure and install an audio system that would best deliver outstanding sound to this 1,200 capacity warehouse/club space, located beside Birmingham's international arts complex, The Custard Factory.

"Gibb Street Warehouse has reflective brick and metal surfaces so it's an echoic space," says Mustt pro

Italy - Clay Paky was once again present - as it has been for many years - at Miss Italia 2012, the number one Italian beauty contest.

Lighting director Fausto Carboni used a very diverse mix of 150 Clay Paky lights, including Alpha Spot HPE 700s, Alpha Wash 700s, Alpha Profile 1500s and Alpha Profile 1200s, in addition to the now omnipresent Sharpys.

"The scenery featured a very large structure, with massive video screens that completely surrounded the stage. There was also a framework inside the video screens consisting of tiles and building materials chosen specifically to give the set a particularly elegant look," said Fausto Carboni.

"With a set like this," Carboni continued, "it was absolutely essential to use the most compact rig possible, so my choice fell on the Clay Paky 700 watt spotlights and washlights. They are compact and lightweight,

UK - A new hydrogen fuel-cell powered lighting package from industrial gases and engineering firm BOC provides a solution that is long on staying power and short on emissions, the company says.

Aimed at a range of applications, from lighting an outside maintenance area or a night-time sports practice court, to outdoor temporary events, the latest addition to the Hymera family of hydrogen fuel cell products from BOC, a member of The Linde Group, is an ideal option for locations that cannot connect to grid electricity, say BOC. The package uses high-efficiency, low-wattage lamps with an output equivalent to two 300W halogen lamps.

BOC say its system has significant advantages over both battery-powered or diesel/petrol generator alternatives. When compared with generator performance, the Hymera emits no carbon dioxide, oxides of nitrogen (NOx) or particulates. In fact, it only pr

UK - The Hilton Park Lane was the venue for the 2012 Baking Industry Awards, a huge gala dinner that celebrates the best in the UK baking industry. Event production company Corporate Events was on hand to provide a top class audio visual production solution for this high class, prestigious event, with Sennheiser microphones an integral part of their inventory.

A packed entertainment programme saw the 25th Anniversary of this award show's VIP audience entertained by two live music acts and a top DJ, and hosted by TV personality and Strictly Come Dancing finalist Jason Donovan.

Corporate Events provided a high level audiovisual solution to support the event. "Our production quality standards for working in here are amongst the best and the creative that goes into the opening sting, slide desks and video shine through, ensuring that the VIP's get just that," say

USA - This past summer, The Venetian Las Vegas embraced the jaw-dropping art of 3D projection mapping during its Carnevale festival by premiering a stunning nightly show animating the façade of its clock tower, a replica of the one in Venice's Piazza San Marco.

The show, known as Light of Venice was the first of 10 short commissioned son et lumière works conceived by projection artist Ross Ashton who teamed up with London-based UnitedVisualArtists and Tucson, Arizona's Darling Ltd. on the creative implementation. AVDB Group of Las Vegas further supplied the technical components of the production, including a new L-Acoustics ARCS II system.

Hidden behind a scrim to preserve architectural appearances during the day and not interfere with the video mapping at night, eight ARCS II enclosures are positioned in a horizontally oriented constant curvature array at the

Australia - Resolution X took delivery of the first Martin MAC Viper Profiles in Australia (via Martin distributor Show Technology) and the new units didn't spend long in their new warehouse before making their debut appearance on the AFL Footy Show Grand Final Edition.

The show, an Australian sports television programme dedicated to the Australian Football League, was broadcast live from Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena with a TV audience in the millions, but that didn't stop lighting designer Rohan Thornton from debuting a product he'd never used before.

"I knew it wouldn't be a risk as Martin is famous for their reliability, and the people at Res X would have tested them thoroughly," he added. "The only risk was that I only had 24 Vipers and I used all of them with no spare but I wasn't let down."

Thornton had seen the MAC Viper at the Entech tradeshow and

UK - Nick Gray from London-based creative lighting and design practice Renegade 'imagineered' a dramatic and striking lighting ambience - both outside and inside - London's iconic Tate Modern art gallery, which hosted the new James Bond Skyfall movie world premier's glamorous after-party.

Gray was working for Skyfall after-party event producers AD Events. A demanding production brief included making the after party equally as dazzling and memorable as the premier screening at the Royal Albert Hall.

The event took up the entire Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern (formally a power station), and once again gave Gray the opportunity to work his lighting magic in this most distinctive architectural space.

Gray says, "The Turbine Hall is an amazing environment to work in and already highly atmospheric, so the real challenge was to add requisite 007 qualities like m

USA - Robe's Robin MMX Spots are an integral part of the new Luminosity: Ignite the Night. Powered by Pepsi visual extravaganza at the Cedar Point Amusement Park on the Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio.

These were specified by lighting designer Al Crawford of Arc3design, who worked alongside Lighting director and EOS console programmer Zakaria M Al-Alami (Zak) on the project.

Based in New York, Arc3design is a collective of LDs and technical artists who combine their multi-disciplinary experiences on innovative projects encompassing the genres of concert performance, theatre, dance, corporate and private events and environmental installations.

They were brought on-board to bring imagination, vitality and 'wow' factors aplenty to the Luminosity show by show producers Ryan Stana and Tarrah Hirsch of RWS & Associates Entertainment.

The 20 Robe MMX Spot fixtures ar

UK - Blackburn-based lighting and visuals rental specialists HSL supplied lighting equipment and crew to Cheryl Cole's first solo A Million Lights arena tour, once again working for technical producers Production North.

The lighting design by Peter Barnes, directed / operated out on the road by Neil Trenell of Fix8, proved that imaginative and intelligent use of lighting and effects can bring serious layers of magic to a high-impact show.

The tour was project managed for HSL by Mike Oates who comments, "Production North under the technical direction of Iain Whitehead co-ordinated another superb looking and highly entertaining show, and we were really pleased to be involved."

Barnes and Trenell worked closely with creative directors Fatima Robinson and Beth Honan, who commissioned the set design from Bruce Rogers. They also initiated the video and visuals con

UK - A.C. Special Projects (ACSP) have provided an attractive exterior LED colour-changing lighting scheme for Da Mario Gastronomia Napoletana, an Italian restaurant in the heart of London's busy Gloucester Road area known for being a popular celebrity haunt.

Located a short walk from Kensington Palace, the 120 year old building's beautiful architecture merges Venetian and Gothic styles and was commissioned by Queen Victoria.

Having previously provided the restaurant with a custom multi-zone audio and DJ system for their basement, when deciding to upgrade their exterior lighting system, Da Mario contacted ACSP about the project - who also have extensive experience supplying and installing specialist LED lighting schemes.

Lance Bromhead, who project managed the job for ACSP comments, "It was really vital for the lighting to be elegant, understated and appropriate for the

Germany - Top German engineer Wolfgang Hofer, recently mixing monitors for German rock star Marius Müller Westernhagen on his national tour, has been impressed by the performance of Nexo's 45°N-12 line monitors, as have his fellow audiophile engineers.

Marius Müller Westernhagen, possibly best known for his hit Johnny Walker, has been a constant presence on the German rock music scene since the mid-1970s. As well as his records, Marius is known for his energetic public concerts and, this September, set out on the road for his Hottentottentour 2012.

Monitor engineer Wolfgang Hofer recalls, "I had the chance to check out the Nexo wedges during a nice little two-day cultural event. Immediately, I decided to take them out as main monitors for the upcoming MMW Tour. In total, I've been using 10x N-12s, amped by the NXAMP4x4 in active mode on 6 mixes. Apart

USA - The Dukes of September Rhythm Revue - perhaps better known as Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs, along with a seasoned nine-member backup band - has now closed the final chapter on a very successful 43-show North American tour. The outing was a combined effort between Detroit-based Thunder Audio, which supplied the monitor package for Fagen, and Escondido's Sound Image, which handled monitor packages for McDonald and Scaggs as well as provided FOH control and a full L-Acoustics K1 system for the duration.

The K1 system, which had just come off of the road with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers prior to the tour, was prepped for the Dukes' first show at St. Louis' Fox Theatre in Sound Image's Nashville office by systems engineer Vic Wagner, who has deployed K1 for Taylor Swift and Prince, in addition to Tom Petty.

For most venues on the tour, Wagner flew up to t

Lebanon / UAE - The latest Middle East technical production company to invest in Robe products is Sound On Stage, based in Lebanon and the UAE, and run by Mazan and Rawad Saad.

The company, well known as an audio specialist, wanted to expand its operation to include lighting, so recently made an investment in Robe's Robin LEDWash 1200 and 600s, MMX Spots and LEDBeam 100s to kick start its lighting rental stock.

Sound On Stage supplies design services, equipment and crew for a variety of different corporate events / presentations and live concerts and shows.

The deal was co-ordinated by Robe's Middle East Sales manager Elie Battah.

Says Rawad, "We really liked the Robin range for its light weight, which makes the physical handling extremely easy."

He adds that Robe's reputation for reliability and robustness was another key reason leading to their decision, toge

UK - It was certainly a case of everyone helps when the Saville team, headed up by account director Adam Pike, were called on by retailer Tesco to provide all the AV and technology support for seven events across five days in six different venues.

Central to this frantic activity was the group Company Conference for 3000 delegates, held at London's ExCel conference centre. The main plenary featured an impressive 36m edge-blended screen covered by six Christie Roadie HD+35K projectors and fed digitally over fibre-optic from a Barco Encore system.

Audio was handled by a d&b Q series line array system with a 48-channel Yamaha M7 and the lighting spec featured over 70 Robe LED fixtures including the new Robe 100. Live action camera feeds were supplied by four Sony HD cameras sub-mixed via a Tricaster 850 vision mixer. This spec was more or less mirrored in the second hall with ano

Belgium - The Pukkelpop Festival has grown from a small one-day event to become one of the biggest festivals in Europe, with over 180,000 music fans attending over the course of the three-day event to witness performances from the likes of The Stone Roses, Foo Fighters, Bjork, and Eagles of Death Metal.

Thanks to leading sound company EML Productions - now part of the PRG Group - all eight stages for this mammoth event were this year powered exclusively by Lab.gruppen amplifiers.

EML Productions have been behind the sound for the festival since the early days, and the relationship with Lab.gruppen is one that has also been longstanding, as Patrick Demoustier, Chief of Sound at EML, testifies.

"We first started using Lab.gruppen when we decided to change our systems some years ago," said Patrick. "We did some careful A/B testing and comparisons, and we ended wi

Sweden - Lund Cathedral in Sweden, the country's oldest and largest church and which dates back to 1080, has expanded its permanently installed RHAON-equipped Iconyx digitally steerable system with the addition of a further IC16/8-R-II active array above its altar.

The cathedral's size - in normal use it seats 1,800 but can accommodate an extra 800 during major events that are frequently televised - reflects its historical status as the Seat of the Archbishop for the whole of northern Sweden and the other Nordic countries.

Its cavernous nave had long proved a challenge for bishops whose voices would become hoarse trying to project down such a long space. Many years ago a sound system was installed to help, originally with four wired microphones and a conventional loudspeaker system.

The last time it was replaced was 1987, when the church felt it was time for something more c

Canada - Pop legend Peter Gabriel gives a rare glimpse of his nostalgic side in his new Back to Front Tour, which recently opened in Quebec City with a full performance of his classic 1986 album, So. Many aspects of the show hark back to the past, and lighting and show designer Rob Sinclair is using Clay Paky Alpha Spot QWO 800 fixtures in an application employed by him 25 years ago.

Gabriel wanted to bring back some of the elements from the tour that launched So, including camera booms with lights mounted on the end, one boom for himself and one for each of the original touring band members who have reunited with Gabriel: bassist Tony Levin, guitarist David Rhodes, drummer Manu Katche and keyboardist David Sancious.

"We brought the technique up to date by having five manually-operated camera booms with three Alpha Spot QWO 800 fixtures on each of the

Australia - Mojo Barriers has opened a permanent Australian office giving event organisers and venues across the continent access to the full Mojo Barriers product range with enhanced logistical capabilities and customer service.

Mojo Barriers Australia officially opened doors on 2 October, and the operation is already in full swing for the start of the Australian event season. The main office and storage premises are based in Sydney and will house over 1,500m of stock, with additional barriers located across other major cities to allow for the most efficient and cost effective service.

Since the crowd safety product was first introduced to Australia in 2002, Mojo Barriers has firmly established a leading positioning the market, supplying events including Big Day Out, Soundwave and Future Music Festival via local partners. Now, in response to client demand, Mojo Barriers has b

USA - Bringing home "one of the best results from any international trade show", this year's LDI Exhibition saw an outstanding level of development in Le Mark's USA distribution network, says the company.

With four new dealers ready to take stock of the entire Dirty Rigger gloves & accessories range straight after the show, plus an additional 80 high profile enquires, the team have again been overwhelmed with the response.

Dirty Rigger product manager Steve Marshall said, "Within a little over 12 months we've managed to secure 11 new distributors across the USA for our rigger gloves & tool pouches. With the results of a second impressive LDI show, I have every confidence this will at least double in the first quarter of 2013. It's been a really amazing show."

Also featuring heavily at LDI were Le Mark's Professional dance floors and the all new 'TripLine'

UK - Black Light has installed an external lighting system at the recently completed, £20m, sports centre at Lancaster University. The project, which presented a number of key technical challenges, highlights the company's national reach and the fact that it can offer turn-key solutions of the highest quality.

"We were asked by the consultant, ARUP (Manchester), to provide a lighting system to highlight the building during dark hours and make it stand out from the street," says Jock Wallace, Black Light's installations manager. "As the sports centre is a brand new building we had to ensure that our work complemented it aesthetically. We also had to be extremely careful that our installation was faultless and that we achieved a perfect finish."

To ensure that the project's goals were achieved, Black Light carried out a demonstration of equipment on sit

UK - As the Theatres Trust's Ecovenue project draws to a close, Tim Atkinson - who has headed the project since 2010 - has announced that he will leave the Trust at the end of the year to launch Entertaining Sustainability - a new website and venue auditing service.

Atkinson will primarily be carrying out energy and sustainability audits and delivering Display Energy Certificates and Advisory Reports for theatres, performing arts venues and entertainment industry suppliers and distributors from January 2013, under the name: Entertaining Sustainability.

The accompanying website aims to offer a mini social network for those interested in entertainment and sustainability to stay in touch and share news, ideas and experiences. The website launched this week for two months of 'public beta', before becoming fully-fledged in January 2013.

Atkinson comments: "I am keen that it

USA - At the 2012 biennial Ryder Cup golf tournament, a team of USA all-stars challenged the European Cup-holders at the private 640-acre Medinah Country Club in Illinois. Lighting for the event ceremonies was provided by Theatrical Lighting Connection (TLC) of Chicago.

The lighting rig included 100 Martin and 55 Color Kinetics fixtures. Control data from two Martin consoles was transmitted via a total of 2,000 ft. of ProPlex Fibre Cable to two ProPlex GBS 10-port, dual-fibre, managed GigaBit Switches, and then via ProPlex Ethernet cables and ArtNet converters to four ProPlex Opto-Splitter 2x8 units, linked to the fixtures via ProPlex DMX cables.

"We've been using ProPlex data cables for about 10 years and never had a problem," says Otto Schlesinger, production electrician at TLC. "Based on our experience, it made sense to adopt the new ProPlex Fibre Cable. This

USA - Orbital Sound Inc opens its doors today, bringing the well-established Orbital brand directly into play in the US market for the first time. Headed up by industry veteran Jim Shearing, Orbital Sound Inc is headquartered in Springfield, NJ, just outside New York City, and is staffed by a pool of seasoned professionals, including Jeff Hahn, Lorne Grabe, Luke Lytle and Ray Mancison. Mirroring the structure of the highly successful UK-based company, the US operation will be focusing principally on servicing the theatre, live entertainment and corporate event sectors.

Orbital Sound Inc's President Jim Shearing comments, "Orbital's professionalism and technical capabilities are highly respected on the international stage, providing us with a fantastic platform on which to build the US business. All of us in the Orbital Sound Inc team have many years' experience, and we shar

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