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14 March 2016

The weekend kicked off on Saturday 16 March with the Russian Maslenitsa Festival. Maslenitsa is the Russian Sun Festival, a celebration of waving farewell to winter and where Russian's all over the world say "Zdravstvui Maslenitsa!" to Spring, welcoming the start of warmth.

The Square was transformed into a bustling bazaar and the stage hosted performances of traditional songs and dance. The event in Trafalgar Square was the grand finale of Russian Week in London (11-17 March).

The Alpha mobile stage built in five hours, ensured that production had maximum time to load in and the quick de-rig of the stage meant that the Square was cleared within a few hours of the event finishing on the load o

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14 March 2016

Egyptian lighting designer Mohammed Gafar created a lighting rig that emphasised the aerial agility, precision and speed of aviation today, which comprised fast moving, super-bright Clay Paky Alpha Spot HPE 700s and pure beam Sharpys.

"I chose to use the Alpha Spot HPE 700s and Sharpys for this particular event because we wanted a discreet light source that would deliver maximum effect when required" explains Gafar. "We were keen for the event, which was a sit down dinner and presentation, to look dramatic and exciting and reflect recent achievements of civil aviation. Lighting was used to set the mood and atmosphere of the room but also to enhance and punctuate the video presentation. In

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14 March 2016

Show designer Steven Douglas has worked with The Killers before and has this time created a spectacular show, making an advanced use of live camera feeds from various sources, mixed with visual content in real time.

Taking advantage of the multi output capabilities of the ArKaos VideoMapper, Douglas has setup an upstage video wall composed of Pixled F-15 NT, which splits into two separate video screens with the top section measuring 4.6m x 14.6m and the lower section 1.8m x 14.6m, revealing a wall of moving lights and lasers behind it.

On stage, Douglas incorporates more video screens into some of the set elements. Three band risers are covered in a total

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14 March 2016

The 2013 Rebel Soul tour, in support of Kid Rock's latest album of the same name, marks the sixth year that Steve 'Half Pint' Cross has manned FOH for the group. With John 'Haircut' Tompkins once again serving as systems engineer, and Parnelli Award-winning audio system tech Vic 'Beaker' Wagner assisting with PA. setup and optimization, the tour is taking advantage of a full complement of K1, Kudo and Kara loudspeakers, all powered by LA8-equipped LA-RAK.

Similar to Kid Rock's touring system from his Born Free tour with Sheryl Crow two years ago, the main house sys

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14 March 2016

RML is one of the UK's favourite independent hire facilities and a specialist in the worlds of television and live entertainment production.

The company has been renowned for its expertise and authority on moving lights for almost 30 years, and has been right at the forefront of this technology throughout. The purchase of the latest Robe products for its already extensive inventory is no exception.

RML started buying Robe products in 2012 and now already has over 100 fixtures available, including LEDBeam 100s and LEDWash 600s as well as the 24 new MMX WashBeams.

Says RML's marketing coordinator Gemma Jaques, "We feel that Robe has really taken the time to listen to end users and 'got it right' with the current Robin range."

She

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14 March 2016

Italian lighting manufacturer D.T.S. contributed to the success of the show with its new LED moving heads. 82 NICK NRG 1201s, provided by DiBi Technology, were installed in the Teatro della Luna. 36 NRG 1201s were integrated into the setting for a 'particularly incisive visual quality', arranged in six vertical rows in the wide spaces between the LED walls.

Two further parallel rows of NRG 1201s were installed along the sides of the stalls, using all the features of the projectors - colour quality, zoom, strobe - to create a dynamic lighting look.

"The installation of the

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14 March 2016

Recorded and broadcast live on Sky Sports 4 and to over 37 countries around the world, the latest Martin MAC Vipers complemented with over 100 additional Martin MAC 2000 Washes, MAC 700's and MAC Aura's, all controlled from an Avolites Tiger Touch. In addition Stage Electrics' scenic division built scenery elements which included a revolving door complete with sponsors branding used to reveal each star player.

Stage Electrics' live events technical project manager, Mike Jarvis commented, "This is the fourth year we have provided the lighting for the Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships. The Martin Professional lighting used worked superbly in achieving what was required

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14 March 2016

"Nobody's trying to pretend that it's 1976 again," says front of house engineer Andy May, owner of one of the very first Yamaha PM5D digital consoles to roll off the production line. "But these shows are for the 'hardcore' fans, so we have tried to put on a good, old-fashioned rock'n'roll show."

He and lighting designer Pat Marks have succeeded admirably in t

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14 March 2016

Campus Westend of the Goethe University Frankfurt nestles in a burst of parkland, yet directly borders Frankfurt's downtown, boasting a wealth of eateries, shops, theatres and other recreational facilities. The buildings of Campus Westend are based around the Neo-Realist IG Farben Building , while immediately beyond the campus boundaries you can find splendid art deco residences and cutting-edge modernist architecture.

The House of Finance building is part of a gigantic investment by the State of Hesse to build a new site for the Goethe University. The House of Finance is encompassing 14,000

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14 March 2016

This was the third year running that the SW19 team had worked with EMI on the party, which welcomed a host of industry figures and artists aboard after the spectacular BRIT Awards Ceremony to celebrate another successful year for EMI's roster of artists, which includes Emeli Sande, Coldplay, Bastille and Noel Gallagher, who were all in attendance.

SW19 worked with EMI's Deby Bunyard and Caroline Hilton to realise their vision for a chic club / bar vibe, elegantly lit and with a distributed zoned audio system throughout the boat.

DJ David Rodigan set the scene for the party with Fabio Lendrum taking over later in the evening.

The boat

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14 March 2016

R20 is a non-profit environmental organisation founded by former Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, with the support of the United Nations. A coalition of sub-national governments, private companies, international organisations, NGOs and academic and financial institutions, R20 supports governments building a green economy.

The two day conference gathered nearly 600 participants, and was hosted by Schwarzenegger. Local broadcast company, RadioMax, led by production manager, Martin Jeschke, was appointed to manage all technical aspects, and freelancer, Andreas Putz, was appointed chief audio engineer.

Based in Austria, Putz specialises in live sound engineering for music and corporate events and also specialises in multimedia AV desig

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14 March 2016

Nashville-based consultant Steve Durr was called in to recommend a sound system whose sonic quality would keep it competitive with the city's many other music venues, while at the same time keeping the sound highly controlled and away from reflective surfaces, and keeping the energy channelled within the venue and away from neighbouring residences.

Th

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14 March 2016

Winter Jam serves up a wide range of music styles-from the dub step of the Capital Kings to the acoustic pop of Jamie Grace, the guitar rock of Red and the rap of headliner TobyMac.

"It's a challenge for the PA because you can't simply tune it for a certain style," says Jerry Holcomb, production manager and one of the FOH engineers on the tour. "Fortunately, the Meyer system shines on all of them. It's a very musical PA at any level. It doesn't have to be loud. The lighter bands early on all sound great, and by the time TobyMac comes on it's still very high fidelity-only much lo

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14 March 2016

Offsite, he lit a variety of leading shows including Vivien Westwood, L'Wren Scott, Rocksander, Mark Fast, Kinder Aggugini and Pringle.

It's the seventh season that Gray has lit the BFC space, featuring up to five or six shows per day for a plethora of leading designers including Marios Schwab, Issa, Emilio de la Morena, Bora Aksu, Jasper Conran and numerous others.

Working for show producers Bacchus, Gray's lighting design featured a three truss format overhead - centre and two sides - running the full 25m of the catwalk.

The set this year featured a wider entranceway for the models and an elegant chevron-shaped wood / black carpet runway, all of which r

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14 March 2016

The singer opened the show accompanied by his marching band of female dancers to perform his new single. As he entered onto the stage, the set was flanked either side by four of the dancers, who marched and danced up and down two 10' long travelators below that constantly moved throughout the song. Their fluid movement was mirrored by the ice-skating contestants who took it I turns to make their entrance onto the rink, all choreographed by Nathan Clarke.

Creative director for Olly Murs and staging producer for Dancing on Ice, Dan Shipton, wanted to add an exciting effect that hadn't been seen on the show before. He said: "Initially I was worried that there wouldn't be a company out there who could provid

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14 March 2016

You could be the first worldwide to get your hands on Martin Professional's new range of affordable effect lights - RUSH by Martin.

Martin will be giving away some of the very first RUSH effect lights to a few lucky winners via a competition at the upcoming Prolight + Sound exhibition in Frankfurt, 10-13 April, Stand A93, Hall 9.

All visitors need to do is get a RUSH badge from the RUSH area of the Martin stand and wear it around the trade show floor. One lucky participant will be stopped and announced as the winner each day Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Martin is also offering RUSH fans a chance at design stardom. Send Martin a unique design for a new RUSH t-shirt and if your design is a winner, Martin will splash it on a t-shirt for the world to se

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14 March 2016

Don McConnell, head of product, for the Hills SVL Group, commented, "We're delighted to be involved with such a respected and innovative company. The timing of the agreement is perfect with new products including ARCS WIDE, ARCS Focus and ARCS II sure to create a lot of interest. This along with respected line source products such as Kiva, Kara and Kudo, and the coaxial range, provides us with a wide yet complementary product offering. We're looking forward to introducing the full range of products to our customers. We know they'll be impressed."

Tim McCall, sales m

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14 March 2016

GAM has provided high quality lighting products to the theatre and film community for more than 35 years, and Rosco says it will continue to market and promote them worldwide through its extensive global distribution network. "For existing and loyal GAM customers, it will be business as usual with GAM's entire catalog of products available through Rosco. But we're especially looking forward to leveraging our world class dealer network to expose these excellent products to new clientele," said Mark Engel, CEO of Rosco.

GAM w

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14 March 2016

As one of the world's most-watched live music productions, attracting in excess of 100m television viewers each year, the Eurovision Song Contest has become a major annual showcase for the technologies at the cutting edge of the show production industry.

This year's Eurovision Song Contest, produced by the European Broadcast Union (EBU) and SVT, the national broadcaster of last year's winning nation, Sweden, will be preceded by PLASA Focus: Backstage Malmö - an opportunity for industry professionals to take a first-hand look at these technologies in context.

The event will include a series of excl

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14 March 2016

"The Equipment Suspension training was a great success at The Hawth and everyone found it relevant and useful to our venue," commented Quentin Whitaker, The Hawth, Crawley.

Other training topics include courses and workshops on maintenance and troubleshooting with intelligent lighting. Health & Safety and manual handling training in the entertainment environment, as well as pyrotechnics safety awareness; all designed for individuals who are responsible for health & safety at their venue or an event, freelancers and technicians who want to burden their skill set.

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14 March 2016

The tour is using 12 K10 and 36 K5 fixtures as part of its "big, powerful rock 'n roll rig," says lighting designer Justin Kitchenman of Fadeup Design Group. He was introduced to the A.LEDA Series at LDI 2012 where he was "looking for the next generation moving light." After seeing the A.LEDA fixtures, "We feel we found the best the industry has to offer," he says.

The A.LEDA Series is the first professional Clay Paky product line to use LEDs as light sources. An alternative to discharge lamp wash lights, it offers all the benefits of LED technology: low energy consumption,

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14 March 2016

"My entire rig comprised Clay Paky fixtures," says El Hariry, "The Sharpys performed brilliantly. The strong beam they deliver give a really contemporary feel to the show. Also, by playing around with the prism, we created a variety of very distinctive looks for Amr."

Clay Paky distributor for Egypt, Cairo-based Audio Technology, which is well respected for its service and product knowledge in the Egyptian market, supplied the Sharpys. Audio Technology managing director, Emad Adly comments, "At just 189W t

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14 March 2016

This allowed a conference and awards event to be staged in-the-round; ensured that all delegates in the room had a clear view of the proceedings with the installation of 16 plasma screens in strategic positions ... and maximised the very low and idiosyncratically shaped headroom of the space.

dbn's project manager was Nick Todd and the company was working for event producers, WRG.

The Pavilion Suite is a long rectangular room with a very low ceiling height of just under three metres down each side but up to five metres in the middle.

In addition to making this full ceiling area into usable space ... the other big challenge was a

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14 March 2016

The Fader Fort presented by Converse and powered by Dell, has the reputation of being the spot to see live music during SXSW. This year it brought together a mix of today's most innovative and emerging artists as well as many notables including.

"We wer